Go Your Own Way

July 1, 2007
Adult/High School-The editors of "A Woman Alone" (Seal, 2001) have again collected women's travel narratives. Most of the essays involve specific trips: Susan Richardson in Iceland, following the steps of a 10th-century Viking woman; Alexia Brue spending a post-college summer in Provence working in a hotel laundry; Alison Culliford's pre-wedding trip to Labrador on an "icebreaker"; Gail Hudson taking her 13-year-old daughter to Greece and recalling her own trip there as a teen. One of the best pieces, by Julianne Balmain, is simply about the pleasures of traveling alone. She talks about places as companions and about the importance of anchoring solo days with "small, well-spaced obligations." It's great advice for any solo traveler, male or female. Many of the essays deal specifically with the issues women face: cultural expectations in different countries, safety, the empowerment of travel. This book will appeal to armchair travelers, and to fans of novels like Maureen Johnson's "13 Little Blue Envelopes" (HarperCollins, 2005)."Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, CA"

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