Review: Etta and Otto and Russell and James

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Etta is an old lady already but she still has a dream that she never managed to fulfill. So she decides to see the sea at the age of eighty two. Doesn't sound too strange so far? Well, she walks there. Through the biggest part of Canada as she also decides to go east instead of taking the shorter route to the coast in the west. We will find out about her reasons as there are more story lines to the book than just Etta walking through the country. We will accompany a teenage and young version of Etta as well as we follow her husband Otto struggling with the fact that Etta left as well as with him being a child and later on soldier. But then there's still Russell and James in the book title, yes? Well, Russell is Otto's childhood friend and was the first to have a crush on Etta. And James...now we come to the best part of the book! James is a coyote! And the only company for Etta for thousands of kilometers. Now there comes another thing, Etta keeps forgetting things and sometimes lives in a different reality. So we're never really sure about what happens for real and what doesn't. And as a reader I cared less and less during the process because as long as it's real for Etta it's real enough for me.

I can only say that this is one of the sweetest, most beautiful and saddest books I've read in the last some months. Right now I'm a little more emotional, so maybe that's the reason why, but I cried two times while reading the book. And I usually never cry while reading, but this book really made me feel with the characters. And it was just so sweet and beautifully written and very creatively written. An absolute recommendation - if you already liked Harold Fry, Etta is the much better pilgrim!



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