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“Moving . . . Long tells the story of finding hope after despair lightly and artfully, with self-effacement and so much gentle good nature.”—The New York Times
Long Litt Woon met Eiolf a month after arriving in Norway from Malaysia as an exchange student. They fell in love, married, and settled into domestic bliss. Then Eiolf’s unexpected death at fifty-four left Woon struggling to imagine a life without the man who had been her partner and anchor for thirty-two years. Adrift in grief, she signed up for a beginner’s course on mushrooming—a course the two of them had planned to take together—and found, to her surprise, that the pursuit of mushrooms rekindled her zest for life.
The Way Through the Woods tells the story of parallel journeys: an inner one, through the landscape of mourning, and an outer one, into the fascinating realm of mushrooms—resilient, adaptable, and essential to nature’s cycle of death and rebirth. From idyllic Norwegian forests and urban flower beds to the sandy beaches of Corsica and New York’s Central Park, Woon uncovers an abundance of surprises often hidden in plain sight: salmon-pink Bloody Milk Caps, which ooze red liquid when cut; delectable morels, prized for their earthy yet delicate flavor; and bioluminescent mushrooms that light up the forest at night.
Along the way, she discovers the warm fellowship of other mushroom obsessives, and finds that giving her full attention to the natural world transforms her, opening a way for her to survive Eiolf’s death, to see herself anew, and to reengage with life.
Praise for The Way Through the Woods
“In her search for new meaning in life after the death of her husband, Long Litt Woon undertook the study of mushrooms. What she found in the woods, and expresses with such tender joy in this heartfelt memoir, was nothing less than salvation.”—Eugenia Bone, author of Mycophilia and Microbia
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 2, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781984885913
- File size: 221859 KB
- Duration: 07:42:12
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Narrator Bernadette Dunne leads listeners through this memoir, which winds through the author's inner landscape of grief into her growing absorption with the world of mushrooms. Woon's fascination with foraging for mushrooms began the day her life as she knew it ended--when her husband and soulmate died suddenly. In freefall, she found answers on how to go on living where she least expected--through the study of fungi, which became her lifeline in her dark hour of need. (She and her husband had been signed up to take a beginner's class on identification before his death.) Dunne captures the author's growing joy and reawakening appetite for a meaningful life. As the author explores both mushrooms and mourning, Dunne entertains and educates listeners on both subjects, moving back and forth between the two. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine -
May 27, 2019
In this enchanting debut memoir, anthropologist Long tells of her life in Norway after the sudden death of her 54-year-old husband left her “alone in the world.” A beginner’s course in mushrooming was an unexpected life raft, leading her to find community and a sense of meaning while wandering the woods: “It was out in the open woodland, on moss-covered ground, that I stumbled on what I was searching for.” Long depicts the bleak lows she felt while mourning (“I went willingly into inner exile”), as she went deeper into her study of mycology. Along the way, she relates debates among mushroomers—such as ones regarding which fungi are actually toxic, which have simply fallen from favor in certain countries, and what are the best ways to cook mushrooms. It’s clear that mycology gave her a path out of despair, and her passion for mushrooms is evident as she describes the many varieties that are “luminescent and can light up a forest path when darkness falls” and the ancient true morels, with their “scent that can arouse powerful longing even in those who have forgotten where it comes from.” This unique tale of rebirth after loss doubles as a riveting foray into the world of mushrooming.
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