Publisher's Synopsis
"Annabel Abbs's Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women is a beautifully written meditation and memoir that reflects on that most fundamental way of connecting with the outdoors: the simple act of walking. In absorbing and transporting prose, Abbs follows in the footsteps of groundbreaking women, including Georgia O'Keeffe in the empty plains of Texas and New Mexico, Nan Shepherd in the mountains of Scotland, Gwen John following the French River Garonne, Daphne du Maurier following the River Rhône, and Simone de Beauvoir--who walked as much as twenty-five miles a day in a skirt and espadrilles--in the mountains and forests of France. These trailblazing women were reclaiming what had historically been considered male domains. The stories of these incredible women and artists are laced together by the wilderness walking in Abbs's own life, beginning with her poet father who raised her in the Welsh countryside as an "experiment,
