Archive for the ‘hiking’ Tag
Heartwood by Amity Gaige was just the kind of book I’d been looking for: one I couldn’t put down. Gaige’s writing hooked me from the very first paragraph. Consider: “You could read the weather like a poem.” This is written by Valerie Gillis, also known by her Appalachian Trail name “Sparrow,” in a letter to her mother.
Valerie has been hiking the AT for the past three months and is now lost in Maine’s North Woods. Rather than simply chronicling what’s happening in a journal, Valerie addresses her entries as letters to her mom. This helps sustain her; it’s evident through her writing, that Valerie has deeper bond with her mother than with anyone else.
Lt. Bev Miller is the Game Warden who oversees the search, formally known as the Incident Management Team, for Valerie that spans a 12-day period. Throughout a stellar career, Bev has worked her way up the ladder to her current position, something fraught with sexism.
The letters/Valerie and Bev’s perspectives are told through first person voices. A third, critical character is Lena, a resident in a senior care facility in Connecticut. The story alternates among these three. What they initially have in common is determination in their quest for Valerie’s survival. Through their backstories, mother/daughter relationships are revealed as another similarity, which vary among them.
The three women are distinct, representing different phases of life and experiences. A handful of other interesting characters populate the novel. Gaige imbues the story with humor, tension and intrigue.
Heartwood
Four-and-a-half Bookmarks
Simon & Schuster, 2025
309 pages
Hiking in Italy’s Piedmont region got off to a mucky start. We spent a rainy day stomping and sliding along trails surrounded by grape-heavy vineyards. Still, the vistas were breathtaking with rolling hills terraced with rows upon rows of grapevines. We were soaked to the bone with so much mud on our boots it felt like walking in high heels on uneven surfaces.
After arriving at our first night’s stay in the hamlet of Vergne, we’d clocked about 10 miles. Arrangements had been made for our bags to be delivered to Ca’ San Ponzio where we had a room for the night. Despite fatigue and a desperate desire/need for a hot shower, this 12-room agriturismo immediately charmed us.
This was the home of owners Luciano and Maurizio’s grandparents; as children they often visited. The brothers renovated the L-shaped building while maintaining its traditional architectural features.
Our warm, spacious room was only part of the charm. A large stone fireplace was the focal point of the inviting living room (lobby doesn’t do it justice). The large dining area – with an impressive breakfast buffet was available in the morning — was another common room for relaxing available, but it was the wine cellar that captivated most guests.
Along with an impressive number and varieties of wine, were bottles, glasses, corkscrews and a stack of Post-it notes. Guests were to help themselves, but needed to jot down their room number and what they’d taken: glass or bottle. This was an honor system everyone happily followed. (With payment for what was drunk made at checkout.)
Bonus: the weather was in our favor the next day.
Ca’ San Ponzio
Five Glasses of wine (this is the rating, not what we drank)
Via Rittane 7, Frazione Vergne, 12060 Barolo, Italy
Home | Cà San Ponzio
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