People gather in the woods and wait for Etta to pass they ask her to carry little tokens to the water with her. Etta’s mind and body fade while her fame grows. She was magical.” The boy doesn’t mention James, the fourth title character.Ī reporter who joins Etta on her long walk sometimes provides the will to continue. Russell sets out in his truck to find Etta and encounters a boy who saw her: “She was singing, I think. Their friend and neighbor, Russell, has tried to keep up with Otto all his life ― and has loved Etta from afar. After he cuts Etta’s photo from each one, the remaining heaps of newsprint spark a project that reveals his artistic nature. Otto drives to a store to get a copy and ends up buying 326. He reads to Otto: “Here, it says Moments of fumbling confusion contrasted with moments of startling clarity. A nephew phones with the news that Etta’s journey has been mentioned in the newspaper. In a reversal of their gender roles, Otto is now the one keeping the home fires burning he carefully follows the written directions Etta has left for cleaning the oven, and for making cinnamon buns and date squares. Hooper offers a variety of details Etta could have shared in her notes, but chose to keep private. The story flashes back to the notes they exchanged when Etta was a schoolteacher and Otto was in the military.

The truth is unclear.Īt home, Otto writes letters to Etta that she is unlikely to receive.

Hooper suggests a variety of things that could have happened to Etta in the wilderness. The note is mostly for her own reference. I also found it easy to connect with Etta’s story, which captures the experiences of my mother’s generation working in what were traditionally male jobs during World War II, then ceding them when the men returned home.Įtta carries a sheet of paper on the walk listing her name, age, farm name and relatives. Given my Silver Alert imaginings, it’s no surprise that Hooper soon had me rooting for a senior citizen who decides she has miles to go before she sleeps. It’s a long way from rural Alberta to Canada’s eastern coast, and she intends to make the impossibly long trek on foot, leaving the car behind for her husband, Otto. It will be their loss, because Hooper has conjured a character who is a gift: the 82-year-old Etta, who takes off on a quest to finally see the ocean. Readers who can’t abide quotations without quote marks or who bristle at nonlinear storytelling will find this book frustrating.

Etta and otto