The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo

This inspirational travelogue from Babine (All the Wild Hungers) recounts a trip she took in her mid-30s to connect with her roots. During the author’s 20s, she bristled at the idea that her life would only be meaningful if she married and had children, and decided to dedicate her time to solo travel instead. A decade later, Babine found herself plagued by unanswered questions about her family. To learn more about the places her parents came from, she embarked on a five-week trek from Minnesota to Nova Scotia in a one-person camper. Between trips around the shore of Lake Superior and guided tours of Quebec City, she examined her burning desire for independence. “When is our individual history more valuable than the communal history we’re connected to,” she wonders. “The pursuit of the story is what matters.” Here, Babine pursues stories about her tight-knit family, including a strain of mental illness on her father’s side and the immigrant experiences of her great-great-grandparents, with insight and compassion, even as she continues to insist on the validity of a life led alone. It’s a moving account from a restless questioner. (May)