Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper is a story about love and friendship, and what happens in old age when memories begin to slip and merge, it is more a walking meditation than a novel.
At 83 years old, in the first stages of Alzheimer's, Etta takes off alone to walk 3000 miles across Canada to see the ocean. A coyote, who she names James, joins her and becomes her companion. The story is told in the present and in the past, often through letters, when she was just a young schoolteacher and met Otto and Russel, who both fell in love with her, Otto going off to war and later marrying her, Russell staying nearby as their best friend. They are all deeply connected, yet each have their own journey to complete.
A sparse, beautiful, book. Sad, magical, haunting. Hooper lets the reader's imagination fill in the empty spaces. A wonderful debut.
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