Meet Aubrey, a somewhat spoiled young girl living in Paris in the late 1800s, who one day comes down with a mysterious, life-threatening illness. She speedily discovers that if she keeps moving location, the illness disappears. And so, she begins her adventurous life of endless travelling around the globe, trying to outrun her unique disease.
I loved the whimsy, lush imagery and touch of magic that Douglas Westerbeke brought to A Short Walk Through a Wide World (2024). I also enjoyed the human connections Aubrey managed to make as she wandered the world, her bittersweet experiences with love, family and the disease itself. For readers who enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020) and The Starless Sea (2019).