The Woman Who Walked to Russia: A Writer's Search for a Lost Legend

Australian writer Pybus takes a fitful journey through Canada and Alaska to follow in the footsteps of Lillian Alling, a Russian woman who, in 1927, walked from New York City to British Columbia, thinking that she could reach Siberia. What little Pybus knows about this""compulsive pedestrian"" comes from vague newspaper clippings that describe her as nearly mute, emaciated and resembling""a haunted person."" Imbued with curiosity and kinship for her""elusive quarry,"" Pybus sets out with her traveling companion, Gerry, a robust and prickly fellow Aussie, on""a kind of feminist adventure. A cross between Thelma and Louise and the Two Fat Ladies,"" the two drive for hours on perilous roads, lodge in freezing cabins and spend a lot of time arguing--mostly about food, the aspects of which (starvation, bulimia, nutrition and guilt) become a recurrent theme. The scenes with Gerry add spark to Pybus's often hopeless wild goose chase, and when they part ways, Gerry's sass is missed. However, in the face of constant disappointment and dead-ends, Pybus turns her attention to the world around her for inspiration, and her accounts of bear sightings, salmon spawning and weather patterns, along with her keen social interest in the logging and hunting industries, create a textured portrait of a dazzling, dangerous landscape. In the end, a few small developments surface to add insight and meaning to Alling's trek, but the real journey is Pybus's, as she is a lively and likable wanderer. Map.