Windswept by Annabel Abbs

Members were less effusive about this title than was the case with last month's book. We found the stories of the women quite interesting, even where we did not know anything about them other than what was in the book, but we were less accepting of the writer's own journey of emancipation through following the footsteps of the women she wrote about.

We felt it was just a bit too much about her and her family but not enough about the women who walked in the past (in the early years of the 20th century) when society's conventions about woman's place were barriers that had to be challenged and overcome.

Clearly, the structure of the book was deliberately devised so as to allow the author to encourage us to get over our own fears of walking alone in nature by presenting the science of how good it is for us in so many ways and how liberating, and how she worked to overcome fear (including debilitating vertigo) in walking treks herself.

The fact that the women written about were in some cases fleeing something worth trekking through wilderness for days on foot without adequate supplies or equipment, or who subsequently suffered incredible punishment for their actions, was rather brushed over.

One inspiring example, though, was Emma Gatewood who at 67 told her large family she was going for a walk and proceeded to become the first woman to solo-hike the full length of the Appalachian Trail. She had endured years of rape and physical violence from her former husband as a spur to finding something liberating to do with her time and she eventually walked the Trail three times, finishing her hiking career at 75.

The full list of women and their treks described in the book are:

Frieda Lawrence (1879-1956), nee von Richthofen, who, as a wealthy married woman with three children, eloped with D.H. Lawrence to become his muse and inspiration for female characters in his books.

Gwen John (1876-1939), now recognised as one of Britain's pre- eminent female artists, who lived in the shadow of her brother artist, Augustus John, and her lover, sculptor, Auguste Rodin.

Clara Vyvyan (1885-1976), an Australian-born writer with a first-class science degree who wrote more than 20 books and was an avid traveller and walker.

Nan Shepherd (1893-1981), a Scottish author, poet, essayist and educator who wrote a memoir of hillwalking in the Cairngorms called The Living Mountain, which is now recognised as a pioneering piece of nature writing.

Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), the French writer, existentialist philosopher and feminist theorist well known for the early feminist work, The Second Sex, and whose off and on lover was Jean-Paul Sartre whom she regularly escaped from in rural and remote landscapes.

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), the American artist, who also escaped a repressive husband to find herself and her art in the desert country of Texas and New Mexico.

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989), the hugely popular English novelist, most famous for Rebecca. 

Emma Gatewood (1887-1973), who is known as Grandma Gatewood, an American pioneer of extreme hiking.

Despite its limitations, this is an excellent book for a good discussion at book club. It enables a lively conversation from members about the longest walks they have taken and whether they walk now, if they would walk alone or at night, what fears hold them back and if they have overcome them ... even if they have enjoyed skinny dipping as part of these excursions.

The book also gets an extra point for this quote from the author: Remember this: a self is not a thing but a becoming - on and on until we die.

Who is Annabel Abbs?

 Annabel Abbs, 59, is an English writer who lives in London and East Sussex. She grew up in Bristol, Dorset, Wales and Lewes in East Sussex, the daughter of a poet and academic father and a gardening writer mother and one of three children. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of East Anglia and an MA from Kingston University.

She has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Irish Times, Tatler, Sydney Morning Herald, The Weekend Australian Review, Psychologies and Elle Magazine. She has also written historical fiction and non-fiction.

Her first novel, The Joyce Girl was about the daughter of James Joyce and was published in 2016. It was well received with two awards but also was criticised in Ireland for 'unsubstantiated speculations' about the intimacy of the relationship between father and daughter. Her second novel, Frieda, published in 2018, tells the story of Frieda Weekley who leaves her husband and children to become the muse of writer D.H. Lawrence in 1912, inspiring many of Lawrence's female characters including Ursula in Women in Love and Connie in Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Her non-fiction titles are The Age-Well Project published in 2019; Windswept in 2021, The Language of Food, 2021 and 52 Ways to Walk, 2022.