The Road to Appledore: Or How I Went Back to the Land Without Ever Having Lived There in the First Place

Canadian poet Wayman (If You’re Not Free at Work, Where Are You Free?) reflects on his move from the city to the country in this evocative memoir. After fumbling through couples therapy with his longtime partner, Bea, in the late 1980s, Wayman embarked on a trial separation that took him out of Vancouver and into the small, rural community of Winlaw, in British Columbia’s Slocan Valley. The mishaps began immediately—his transmission gave out while transporting his belongings out of Vancouver—but over time, Wayman adjusted to a slower speed of life and regular animal intrusions (including a young bear bursting into his kitchen in search of food). In sparkling prose (“Robins bobbed along the grass trying their luck for worms, while above, a raven traveled wing-stroke by wing-stroke”), Wayman recalls how the distance from urban living gave him clarity on his relationship with Bea and got him back in touch with the “pure enjoyment of just being alive.” For Wayman, the experience was so restorative that he never left—but even contented city dwellers will take pleasure from this enchanting account. (Oct.)