Good Books: The Way Through the Woods

The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning by: Long Litt Woon; page length: 320 (find this on Amazon inside my shop)

This memoir easily drew me in, entangling me in the moving story of one woman’s journey with grief and her growing interest in mushrooms and mushroom hunting.

Unexpectedly losing her husband after 32 years together, the author decides to sign up for a course on mushrooms close to where she lives in Norway. Woon describes what is was like to begin the sometimes daunting process of learning mushrooms by heart, of breaking in to what can be a secretive community of mushrooms hunters, and of mentally mapping areas for specific mushrooms in the city where she lives.

Woon skillfully weaves plenty of information about mushrooms into her story — how they grow, how they are recognized, how people cook them. She also includes her very personal journey of grief intertwined throughout the chapters. While all of us may not have lost a spouse, the fact is most of us have experienced loss of some kind (consider the loss we suffered collectively during Covid). Woon’s writing metaphorically takes us by the hand to let us walk with her through the grieving process.

The book also includes a few recipes for cooking mushrooms. I especially enjoyed the parts of the book that described the mushroom feasts that mushroom hunters prepare after a mushroom foray. And I enjoyed hearing about Woon’s hunt for mushrooms in Central Park, NYC!

The best of books inspire, entertain, comfort, and educate us and I am pleased to say this book did all four for me. Take a look at this story and see if you don’t find yourself inspired to hunt mushrooms!

Note: this post contains an affiliate link.