Etta and Otto and Russell and James
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4.0 • 11 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'Writing that easily equals that of the Booker-winning Richard Flanagan...[and] as readable and gripping as any thriller.' - The Times
I've gone. I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. I will try to remember to come back.
Etta's greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2, 000 miles to water.
Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently - and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We think Emma Hooper—a Canadian musician and creative writing teacher based in Bath—is an exciting talent to watch. Poetic, magical and quietly moving, Hopper’s debut novel follows 83-year-old Etta as she treks across Canada to reach the ocean, a coyote named James at her side. In evocative flashbacks, we learn the story of how Etta’s life became intertwined with those of Otto and Russell, best friends raised on Saskatchewan farmland. Like The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and A Man Called Ove, Etta and Otto and Russell and James is a beautiful story about growing old and human beings’ stunning resilience and capacity for growth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hooper's arresting debut novel, with its spare, evocative prose, seamlessly interweaves accounts of the present-day lives of its eponymous main characters with the stories of their pasts and how they first connected with each other. The book starts with a note that Etta leaves for her husband: "Otto, I've gone. I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. Don't worry, I've left you the truck. I can walk. I will try to remember to come back." Thus begins elderly Etta's journey from Saskatchewan to the coast, and the same ocean that once took her dear husband overseas to fight in WWII. She is armed with minor provisions, some clothes, and a sheet of paper with names on it, starting with "You: Etta Gloria Kinnick of Deerdale farm. 83 years old in August." Along the way, Etta meets a coyote she names James; she considers him her friend and they have many long conversations as they travel together. As Etta walks thousands of miles to her destination, three touching stories unfold: those of Otto, from a family of 14 brothers and sisters; Russell, the abandoned boy who lived next door to Otto and becomes a de facto part of his family; and Etta, who lost her sister at a young age. Hooper, with great insight, explores the interactions and connections between spouses and friends the rivalries, the camaraderie, the joys and tragedies and reveals the extraordinary lengths to which people will go in the name of love.
