Annabel Abbs
In Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women, Annabel Abbs retraces the steps of exceptional women who had a passion for walking. Her selection of women is international: Frieda Lawrence, the German wife and muse of D.H. Lawrence; Gwen John, a Welsh artist; Clara Vyvyan, an Australian author; Daphne Du Maurier, an English author; Nan Shepherd, a Scottish author; Simone de Beauvoir, a French writer and feminist theorist; and Georgia O’Keeffe, an American artist.
Abbs provides brief sketches of the lives of each of these women and conducts extensive research on their writing to determine where they walked, when they walked, why they walked, and how walking impacted their lives. Some ventured to exotic locations far from home, while others preferred to walk closer to home. But they all experience the same exhilaration of simply putting one foot in front of the other and walking.
Their reasons for walking primarily had to do with the need to assert themselves, take pride in their physical prowess, and claim their autonomy. Unfortunately, some of them had latched on to men who dominated and confined them while toying with their affections. Walking became a release, a freedom from the cloying atmosphere of male domination.
The book is also part memoir since Abbs interjects details about her personal life and the challenges she faces as a mother whose children will soon be leaving home. She uses the lives and walking experience of these women to serve as her platform for sharing her experiences, exploring her thoughts, and working through some of her challenges. Although these interjections can be interesting and insightful, they interrupt the narrative flow. One minute we are experiencing Frieda’s exhilaration in the Alps; the next minute we are invited to observe the Abbs’ family quibbling about toads in a concrete bunker. The effect is jarring, the juxtaposition incongruous.
Abbs performs a valuable service by focusing her lens on these extraordinary women. To learn about their lives, to hear them speak in their own voices, to applaud their accomplishments, and to witness the transformative impact walking had on their lives make this an interesting and worthwhile read. It’s unfortunate the effect has been marred somewhat by personal interjections.
Recommended with some reservations.