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Breaking the Fourth Wall: An Uncertain Journey on Turkey's Lycian Way
Michelle Sevigny, author
After a turbulent year, Michelle Sevigny heard it as she ran seaside: do more of this.
After researching long-distance coastal routes, she prepared to solo hike the 509-kilometre Lycian Way. The journey doesn’t take her where she planned, but as she camps in the wild, gets lost without water and confronts charging sheepdogs, it guides her to exactly where she needs to be.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: An Uncertain Journey on Turkey’s Lycian Way is a story about learning to embrace uncertainty, of both destination and self, and discovering an answer to the universal question: who are we?
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 7 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot: The memoir is well-paced, taking the reader through the author's journey of self-discovery on the long and eventful Lycian Way.
Prose: Sevigny's style is honest and true. Her candid day-by-day account of her journey keeps readers engaged and mesmerized by her grit and perseverance.
Originality: Sevigny's memoir is truly original. The daily account for her journey through Turkey is fascinating and the people and cultures she encounters are portrayed well and with respect.
Character Development: Sevigny's soul-searching quest reveals her bravery, character, and depth to readers.
Date Submitted: April 25, 2017
Reviews
A retired Vancouver police officer goes on a voyage of self-discovery in this cumbersome yet captivating memoir of hiking Turkey’s Lycian Way trail. After the deaths of her stepmother and her beloved Rottweiler, 45-year-old Sevigny decides to recharge her life by hiking a 316-mile footpath that runs along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Along the walk, she meets locals and other hikers, spends a couple days in the company of a friendly restaurant worker, fights off a few aggressive sexual advances, and spends her nights writing, either in her tent or in small guesthouses. Sevigny’s prose can be lovely (“songs have impact, one or two lines—an answer to a question, the spark to a future epiphany”), but also perplexing (“Impostor syndrome explodes and my eyes hide as we bounce along”), and her habit of repeatedly bringing up her difficulty with the Turkish language is more a hindrance than an enhancement to her tale. Sevigny’s transformation, however, from being burned out to at peace with herself, is undoubtedly inspiring. It’s not quite Wild, but it definitely follows in that bestseller’s footsteps. (BookLife)
