Etta and Otto and Russell and James Review

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

A gorgeous literary debut about an elderly woman’s last great adventure walking across Canada. A beautiful novel of pilgrimage, of fulfilling lifelong promises, of a talking coyote called James, of unlikely heroes and hundreds of papier-mâché animals…
Eighty-two-year-old Etta has never seen the ocean. So early one morning she takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 3,232 kilometers from rural Canada eastward to the coast.

Her husband Otto wakes to a note left on the kitchen table. I will try to remember to come back, Etta writes to him. Otto has seen the ocean, having crossed the Atlantic years ago to fight in a far-away war. He understands. But with Etta gone, the memories come crowding in and Otto struggles to keep them at bay.
Russell has spent his whole life trying to keep up with Otto and loving Etta from afar. Russell insists on finding Etta, wherever she’s gone. Leaving his own farm will be the first act of defiance in his life.
As Etta walks further toward the ocean, accompanied by a coyote named James, the lines among memory, illusion, and reality blur. Rocking back and forth with the pull of the waves, Etta and Otto and Russell and James moves from the hot and dry present of a quiet Canadian farm to a dusty burnt past of hunger, war, passion, and hope; from trying to remember to trying to forget; and inspires each of its characters to visit the sites they’ve longed to see and say the things they’ve longed to say. This is dazzling literary fiction about the rediscovery and care of the soul, and the idea it’s never too late for a great adventure.

Claire's Review 4 of 5 Stars

This is one of the hardest reviews I have had to write in a while, and if I'm honest I don't really know where to start.

There was something about this book that kept you reading and turning the page. the flashbacks to the past were brilliant and it was great to read the back story of Etta and Otto and Russell.

However I found the lack of quotation marks rather annoying, and it made it hard to read in places. The book also seemed to have a strange ending and some parts I struggled to make sense of.

Overall it was a fascinating book, but one i may need to read again to pick up on bits i missed. I couldn't put it down but at the same time didn't always understand it!