On the Way to the End of the World: A Novel

by Adrianne Harun

In 1963, an eclectic group of characters embark on President Kennedy’s ambitious walking challenge.

As the Cuban Missile Crisis eases, President Kennedy is casting around for a demonstration of American prowess when one of his Cabinet unearths an old mandate that US Marines be fit enough to walk fifty miles in twenty hours. Perfect! Kennedy decides to throw down the gauntlet to “today’s Marines,” but before he knows it, he’s sparked a wild fad. The entire country has answered the call, it seems, and for a few crazed winter weeks, masses of Americans will embark on their own arduous Big Walks—the “JFK 50-Milers.”

Yet in tiny Humtown—an isolated mill town in the Pacific Northwest—not everyone who shows up for a hastily organized Big Walk is motivated by patriotism. Not Helen Hubka, an inveterate gossip; not the suicidal Caroline, who months earlier lost her beloved husband during the Storm of the Century. Not ex-soldier/fisherman Jaspar Goode, nor the unknown man in their midst, a collared priest who seems to shift identities at will. Certainly not Avis, a battered teenager running from her terrifying brother . . . with a stolen town treasure. And when the walkers stumble upon the abandoned car of a missing young mother, they rekindle a mystery that soon reverberates among them, exposing hidden truths, talents, and alliances.

Splendidly imagined, with prose that sings on the page, On the Way to the End of the World is an adventure story riven with secrets, a national fairy tale twisted into a whodunit.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2023

About the author

Adrianne Harun is the author of two short story collections,The King of Limbo, a Washington State Book Award finalist, and Catch, Release, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award. Stories from her collections have been listed as Notable in both Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery Stories. Her first novel, A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain, was long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award, a finalist for both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award and the Washington State Book Award and winner of a Pinckley Prize for Debut Crime Fiction. Her second novel, On the Way to the End of the World, will be published in September 2023.

A long-time resident of Port Townsend, Washington, Adrianne ran a garage, Motorsport, with the legendary Alistair Scovil for many years.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s 1963, and President John F Kennedy implores the citizenship to embark on a 50 mile hike as a way to boost morale and demonstrate American’s fitness. On The Way To The End Of The World fictionalizes that request and follows a small and diverse group of small town residents as they embark on their hike. The author explores the lives of the walkers during their 24 hour journey, weaving in a mystery as well as the secrets many of the walkers hold. It’s a nostalgic, light and somewhat poetic read that tries to capture the essence of Anytown, USA during that era and will appeal to broad range of readers. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part meditation, part thriller, part coming-of-age tale, a loosely connected group of townspeople heed President Kennedy’s challenge to walk 50 miles in 20 hours. As the miles pass, each individual’s story comes to light and each person is transformed by the fatigue, pain, and beauty of their physical feat as dark shadows from their lives at home bear down on them.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise, I had never heard of these Big Walks. It was a compelling reason to bring together a large cast of seemingly unrelated characters. The writing was pretty and the initial mysteries were compelling. It kicked off as a 4-5 star read for me. But then it just meandered around for the rest of the story and never clicked together in a satisfying way. And what became of that damned golden egg?!

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this novel more than I actually did. Some parts of it utterly exhilarated, drove me on to the next page. Other parts dragged. Ultimately and sadly, many of the endings in the novel unravelled the tight twists of its mysteries into mere frayed ends.

But, that said, Harun’s prose and character building was phenomenal; I could almost feel their breath in the air as I read. For readers who enjoy the gossip and politics of living in a small town, this is the novel for you. The tensions were real and tight and very appealing.

The premise of the story, while it falls flat, is an intriguing one. The novel centers on a strange community building exercise instigated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, exhorting citizens to walk fifty miles within twenty hours. This brainchild, the Kennedy March, is the event which brings together an odd collection of a Pacific Northwest’s townsfolk: boy scouts, middle and high school students, a widow, the town’s telephone operator, and a mish-mash of others. It is an informal, poorly organized march, mapped out for the participants and then nothing — they are left to navigate the route on their own.

What occurs during those twenty hours is what draws them together, asks them confront and perhaps reconcile the restlessness of their personal trajectories, forces them to look upon one another with suspicion. The rag-tag group encounter secrets along their march and in doing so must sort out who they think they really are.

Embedded in their adventure are the misadventures of others in their town. It is here that I was disappointed. There are mysterious lures… there is the promise — actually several — of scandal and thrill, but the story never fully resolves those mysteries, abandons them. I read on hoping that the novel would return to those threads, but it didn’t. At least not to my satisfaction.

Nonetheless, an intriguing and character-centric read, one that will please fans of literary fiction.

[Wendy Feltham · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a hiker in the Pacific Northwest and a person old enough to remember "party lines" on our phones, I loved this book! Adrianne Harun includes well researched historical fiction, character analysis with a wide range of characters, and a page-turner plot. When President Kennedy hoped to encourage patriotism, he asked Americans to emulate the 50-mile hike required of US Marines. On the Way to the End of the World tells of some athletic teens who assemble a group of participants, each of whom has a personal reason for attempting this feat. They set out one dark morning, and most are not well-prepared or experienced as hikers, and didn't benefit from later technology in boots and clothing. I loved getting to know these characters as individuals, although their lives were often painful, and learning how they interacted together. I've hiked 20 miles in a day, and think it's remarkable anyone could complete all 50 in one long day. Harun lives in Port Townsend, and the action takes place between here and Sequim, in the forests and along the coves I know well. However all the locations are renamed (I'm not sure why?), so I kept guessing at them. I'm delighted this book was selected for a Community Read by the Post Townsend Library.

[Margot Livesey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading On the Way to the End of the World by Adrianne Harun, (author of the acclaimed A Man Came out of a Door in the Mountain) was my deeply pleasurable way into the New Year. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy challenged members of the Marines to walk 50 miles in 20 hours. All over the country members of the public decided to take up the challenge. Harun's novel, set in the Pacific Northwest, follows once such ill assorted group as they walk and walk and walk. I loved Harun's richly imagined characters, particularly Avis, a teenage girl, and Helen Hubka, the gossipy small town telephone operator. And I loved the sense of mystery and menace that envelopes the characters when they seem on the edge of solving a murder. As Rikki Ducornet says this is a novel both "epic and intimate."

[Erica Bauermeister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, what a beautiful novel. What a glowing, sad, uplifting, unsettling, and yet ultimately hopeful novel. At its center is the 50-mile walk that was a John Kennedy challenge (that Bobby Kennedy did). Adrianne Harun takes this moment in history and uses it to illuminate the lives of an odd assortment of walkers, who, over the many hours of their walk, become far more than a group. Harun describes the walk, the mix of terrain, the pain many of the walkers carry with them, the way it is passed back and forth as they become a safe center in a less than safe world. All of it told in a voice I could listen to all day long. Truly, this is one of the best novels I have read in a very long time.

[Galadriel Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the slow pace and beauty of this book. Wonderful characters, lots of side stories, small mysteries slowly unfolded. If you want a quick read this is not for you. This is a book meant to be savored, read slowly, and some sentences wanted to be instantly reread. The 50 mile Kennedy walk was a great way to hold together a mix of different characters and weave them in and out. Some of it was very subtle. I noticed a reviewer complain about not knowing what happened to the “golden egg” but the book does tell you, it’s just done subtly and you have to really be paying attention. Loved every minute of reading this book.

[Miles Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book with so much mystery and intrigue. It made me feel like I was at times reading a mystery and at times looking into the lives of completely normal people. Avis and the mystery surrounding her as well as the missing family was the highlight of the book, and thinking about Teddy intercepting them kept me stressed the whole time. The reveal at the end about jay had me shocked and I loved the book overall. I felt like the end was a bit rushed and much of the mystery was suddenly revealed at the end, but I did enjoy how some things were better left unsaid, like the priest’s real goal or identity.

[Jennifer Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique subject and setting: the "Kennedy Walk" (something I'd never heard of before) brings together a motley crew of pilgrims. We learn more about some of them than others, and inevitably, some of their stories intersect in surprising ways. There's that edgy air of mystery that I loved in Harun's first novel, A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain. Here, there were some things semi-explained in a rush toward the end, that I didn't quite get. But the writing is beautiful, and in the end, it's an affirmation of our shared humanity.

[Tessa A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably more like a 2.5 but I couldn't round it up. The 2.5 stars I do give are due to some of the interactions between the characters, which are subtle and yet carry a lot of meaning amongst the group. That part was conveyed well and I enjoyed the characters in the group in general. However I really can't say I enjoyed the book as a whole because I didn't like the pacing and the end was so unsatisfying and disappointing.

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

In On the Way to the End of the World, Adrianne Harun creates a world full of darkness and beauty, brutality and kindness, woundedness and resilience. A master of suspense, Harun manages to rivet a reader's attention not only with the many mysteries of this band of walkers but with the deep movements of their hearts. An astonishing work of great insight and humanity.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the authors writing style. However the ending left me with so many questions. I’m a bit disappointed it didnt wrap up well with several of the characters.

[Bonnie Magee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful story. It was the book chosen for the town of Port Townsend, Washington to all read together. I’m not sure how well known the author is, but she should be on the best seller list of the NYTimes.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad… rather slow. At times I couldn’t turn the pages fast enuf. Yet other times I picked up the book out of obligation. I wanted to like this book much much better than I did, especially since I’m a walker/hiker myself.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good. Probably of most interest to older readers give the timeline, but could be enjoyed by anyone.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I also wanted to like this book more than I did. It dragged in too many places and only became a page turner toward the end.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the way this book unfolded, how we learned more surprising things about each character at every mile.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harun's work always delivers on vivid atmosphere and the deeper layers of story.

[Maureen Radke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising. Well written. Full of good guys, bad guys. Stories of the downtrodden who find themselves in the best-ever support group.