There are two things I can’t resist in a new book: an adventure and a strong female character. Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling memoir, Wild, has both.
It was published back in 2012, a memoir by a relatively unknown writer. Now it’s being released as a Hollywood movie starring Reese Witherspoon. But it was the book that I was far more interested in…
Strayed is just 22 when she suddenly loses her mother to cancer. Within four years, her marriage has disintegrated and she finds herself battling with her relationships and a serious drug addiction. Then, after a spur of the moment decision in an outdoor shop, Strayed decides to get her life back on track – by walking 1,100 miles from the Mojave Desert to Washington State along the Pacific Crest Trail – completely alone.
As Strayed sets off on her epic hike through the wilderness, we see flashbacks to her former life – the heartbreaking decline as her mother is ravaged by cancer, the helpless attempts to mend her broken marriage and a downwards spiral into cheating, poverty and drug abuse.
A journalist from the Scotsman described how Wild “pretty much obliterated me”. Twenty pages in, I was already wiping tears away on my commute into work. But it’s not a sad tale. Well, at least not all of it.
It’s Strayed’s personality that interested me more – a strong, independent woman taking on a challenge most would steer away from for fear of travelling alone. Aside from a couple of odd characters, Strayed notes how she was struck by the kindness of strangers. Those who left food for her, invited her in when she was down to her last 69 cents or gave her a lift when she was nearly caving under the weight of her backpack.
It’s no surprise this book topped the New York Times Bestseller list. But it does have its critics – from people angry at Strayed for bringing unwanted attention to the PCT to others who think Strayed’s tale is ‘nothing special’. If you’re a hardcore hiker, then this isn’t for you. It’s not detailing every step of the landscape. Strayed is simply writing about what she knows.
For me, it was a book that’s beautifully written, painfully sad and captures what it’s like to heal and ultimately forgive yourself. By doing something as simple as hiking through America.
Buy Wild on Wordery for £6.27. Photo via. Cheryl Strayed