Walking Tour

Walking Tour follows Bobby and Margaret Rose, a married couple traveling through New England on a late summer walking vacation after an unspecified loss. Their journey takes them through pastoral landscapes and small towns as they process their grief and navigate their relationship. The narrative moves between their present-day trek and flashbacks to earlier periods in their lives and marriage. A mysterious woman named Susan appears and disappears throughout their journey, acting as both guide and unsettling presence. The book experiments with time, memory, and perspective while maintaining its core focus on two people walking together through physical and emotional terrain. Davis's prose creates a dreamlike atmosphere where past and present blur, and the boundaries between what is real and imagined become unclear. At its heart, Walking Tour explores how couples cope with trauma and loss, the ways memory shapes experience, and the thin line between everyday reality and the surreal elements that can emerge in times of crisis.

Readers note the book's complex, dreamlike narrative structure can make it challenging to follow. Many found the unique storytelling effective in exploring themes of time, memory, and relationships, though some felt lost in the metaphysical elements. Readers appreciated: - The poetic, lyrical writing style - Deep character insights - The blending of past and present - Rich descriptions of Providence, RI Common criticisms: - Confusing timeline jumps - Hard to distinguish reality from imagination - Plot threads that don't resolve - Too abstract for some readers One reader called it "beautifully written but deliberately disorienting." Another noted it "requires patience and close attention." Ratings: Goodreads: 3.6/5 (212 ratings) Amazon: 3.3/5 (14 reviews) Reviews often mention needing to re-read passages to understand them. Several readers abandoned the book partway through due to its non-linear structure, while others found reward in multiple complete readings.

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🔖 Kathryn Davis wrote "Walking Tour" (1992) while teaching at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, where parts of the novel are set. 🌍 The novel interweaves multiple narratives across different time periods and locations, including a walking tour in Switzerland and a futuristic medical facility. 💫 The book's intricate structure mirrors the maze-like quality of memory, with characters moving fluidly between past and present, reality and imagination. 🏆 "Walking Tour" established Davis as a master of experimental fiction and earned her recognition as one of America's most innovative contemporary writers. 🎭 The novel explores themes of motherhood, memory, and identity through its protagonist Susan, who exists simultaneously as both mother and daughter across different timelines.