The Way Through the Woods

One woman's journey to overcome grief by delving into an overlooked wonder of nature.

As the world of mushrooms opened up to me I began to see that the path back to life was easier than I had thought. It was simply a matter of gathering delights that flash and sparkle. All I had to do was follow the mushroom trail, even though I still didn't know where it would lead. What would I find in the great unknown that lay ahead of me? What lay beyond those hilltops and mists and turns in the road?

When Long Litt Woon loses her husband of 32 years to an unexpected death, she is utterly bereft. An immigrant in his country, in losing the love of her life she has also lost her compass and her passport to society. For a time, she is stuck, aimless, disoriented. It is only when she wanders off deep into the woods with mushroom hunters and is taught there how to see clearly what is all around her, and learn how to make distinctions, take educated risks and hear all the different melodies in Nature's chorus, that she returns to life and to living. And it is mushrooms which guide her back. In The Way Through the Woods, she describes how they saved her, and how they might save you.

In this enchanting debut memoir, anthropologist Long tells of her life in Norway after the sudden death of her 54-year-old husband left her "alone in the world". A beginner's course in mushrooming was an unexpected life raft, leading her to find community and a sense of meaning while wandering the woods ... This unique tale of rebirth after loss doubles as a riveting foray into the world of mushrooming.
- Publishers Weekly

Anyone with an interest in the natural world will delight in Long's sharp-eyed descriptions (and line drawings) of fungi and her therapeutic rambles through Norwegian woods. A wonder-inducing dive into the unique kingdom of fungi.
- Kirkus

In her search for new meaning in life after the death of her husband, Long Litt Woon undertook the study of mushrooms. What she found in the woods, and expresses with such tender joy in this heartfelt memoir, was nothing less than salvation.
- Eugenia Bone, author of Mycophilia and Microbia