The Blind Masseuse: A Traveler's Memoir from Costa Rica to Cambodia

Jones's memoir captures snapshots of her travels to Egypt, Cuba, Cambodia, and more, but the secret foundation of the book is memoir%E2%80%94it's much more about a young woman growing into herself than about the places she's seen. "%E2%80%A6I was completely in my body and my life in a way that felt rare and very good," she writes about her first trip to Costa Rica, and that sentiment is woven throughout the book. Jones seeks to capture her impressions of new places and, more to her interest, how she was viewed by natives of each place and changed by her experiences as a stranger in foreign country. Partly this self-interest is due to the structure of the book. Readers arrive at a new place in each chapter and see it through Jones's eyes, allowing for insightful views of several places, especially Cuba and Bolivia, where her interacts with local people make for interesting reading. But with each new chapter, Jones leaves the last place she visited behind, making the only throughline herself. Though Jones is sincerely engaged with surroundings throughout, many readers will wish the narrative stayed longer in one place enabling a larger scope. (Nov.)