Breaking the Fourth Wall: An Uncertain Journey on Turkey’s Lycian Way

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)