WINDSWEPT: WHY WOMEN WALK

I loved every page of this book and now have it on kindle ready to dip into on my summer hikes. Abbs reminds us that - although women rarely make it into walking books, including Rebecca Solnit's classic - women always walked everywhere, alone and in pairs or groups, up mountains, beside rivers and over plains and along the coast. They walked, she explains, to find a voice, to find freedom. Which is what readers of this book will find. Should be taken on every walk by every woman!

A well researched informative and interesting read.

This was an interesting read.It was kind of a memoir of the author's walks but she chose her walks based on interesting women who had experienced epic walks. She felt that most books about walks were written by men or about men.The writing was good and the stories were different and interesting.The women whose footsteps she walked in ranged from Freida Lawrence through to Georgia O' Keeffeand included Gwen John, Clara Vyvyan, Simone de Beauvoir, Daphne Du Maurier and Nan Shepherd.You learn a bit more about each of these women famous for different things as the author retraces their footsteps in places around the world.It was interesting but it didn't grip me. I think my interest depended on how much I was interested in the women whos footstepsshe was following.

Just glorious!! I found this book to be inspiring, thought provoking, educational, fascinating and just wonderful!The author uses her own life experiences, especially when she found herself in hospital unable to walk, to explore the art of walking and the fact that there was very few books around by women about walking and their adventures, when there are so many by men. With extensive research she uncovers some amazing characters - many of whom I had heard nothing about - and has brought their stories to life by challenging herself to walk the routes they did in the past, and this really just makes this book so immersive and inspiring.The women she features are Frieda Lawrence, Gwen John, Clara Vyvyan, Nan Shepherd, Simone de Beauvoir, Georgia O'Keefe, but there is also reference to Daphne Du Maurier and Emma Gatewood.All very different women but all sharing a deep passion for walking, exploring - and shockingly for women - walking by themselves!! The shame!! But in their adventures they enjoyed the freedom it gave them and allowed them to find their own minds, and the author shared these feelings as she uses each chapter to share her walk, alongside that of the woman she was walking in the footsteps of. There's a look back in time to the lives of these amazing women, their trials and tribulations, the scandals, alongside her own experiences and thoughts on the changes over time as to the attitudes towards a variety of different topics.It explores the benefits to your health of walking, the stories of the kindness of strangers met along the way, the pitfalls and reality of walking in the middle of nowhere by yourself, and the overwhelming sense of achievement and confidence these women had when they had finished a walk. And how eager they were to go on other adventures. Some weren't afraid to go against convention, some lost their families over their actions, but most were just inspired by the solace they felt while walking, despite all of them having a real strong attachment to 'home' and realising just how little they needed in their lives.I learnt so much about these women as the author relayed their stories, alongside her own walking experiences and how that time alone gave her time to think over her life choices. Reading about these women, inspired me to research a little more about them and their work and it's been enlightening to learn more about these amazing women. The way the author connected with each woman also made this more of an experience as she wanted to feel whatIt is one of those books that inspires, educates and just makes you want to walk!! To use your time wisely, and when you get the chance to grab that time for yourself and go out exploring, no matter how near or far!

I only received this recently but I'm struck by how informative the book is . It's written by a woman and will no doubt be mainly read by women ( well at least in my house ) .From the authors own history of walking to the informative historical recollections of Women who took up the challenge . I'm really enjoying it .