The Way through the Woods: Of Mushrooms and Mourning

by Long Litt Woon

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

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 that guide her back. In this book, she describes how they saved her, and how they might save you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature, Grief, Science, Biography, Food

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2017

Reviews

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Click here to hear my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.


Loved it! A five star prediction came through for me 😍

[Emilio Berra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boschi di Norvegia
Un testo recente giunto dal Nord e scritto da un'autrice di origine malese.
Il sottotitolo è già assai significativo : "Una storia di lutto, funghi e rinascita".
L'originalità non manca ; la dimensione autobiografica è evidente.

L'improvviso decesso del marito.
"Di tutte le emozioni che esistono, la disperazione è la peggiore" ; "il lutto è un dolore che macina lento; divora tutto il tempo che gli serve".
Lei si appassiona al mondo dei funghi , ne va in cerca per i boschi , si inserisce nell'associazione degli esperti del settore e trova "un nesso tra la scoperta del mondo dei funghi e l'errare nei deserti del lutto" , un percorso che è diventato "anche un cammino nei paesaggi dell'animo" .

Libro ricco di informazioni micologiche con annesse ricette culinarie. Anche troppo per un lettore come me. Ma io non sono un cercatore di funghi e cucinare non m'appassiona.
Andar per boschi mi pare comunque sempre affascinante, per cui ho trovato bello l'invito dell'autrice : "Quando vi incontrerete, tu e il bosco, prova a dimenticare il tran tran quotidiano e a sentire il ritmo (...) di quel mondo. Fallo diventare parte di te. A quel punto avrai trovato pace" .

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read and enjoyed! Really liked learning about the different mushrooms and the mushroom picking community. The theme of grief is also very interesting, but I wish the mushrooms and grief parts were slightly more weaved together. Very well worth the read though!

[Girl Underground · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about foraging for mushrooms and about grieving losing a husband.

I recently refreshed the word "apophenia" in my memory. It's where you perceive apparent patterns and relationships in random, meaningless details in the environment (thanks, Wiki). This book touches a lot on apophenia, which is one of my favorite things. Those little signs act as anchors to memory. It's nice how Long found those anchors in mushrooms.

[Federica Rampi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tra scienza e sentimento

La Via del Bosco si può leggere come se fosse un trattato di micologia, arricchito dalle note intime dell’autrice Long Litt Woon, o come un libro di memorie in cui il mondo dei funghi si mescola con un susseguirsi di incontri e ricordi.

Ma soprattutto il libro è una lettura istruttiva, divertente e commovente, ambientata nel regno dei funghi, luogo ricco anche di connotazioni magiche.

“Anche questo ambiente ha i suoi eroi, i suoi bassifondi, le sue leggi non scritte e conflitti che lasciano briglia sciolta alle emozioni. ”

L'autrice, che è antropologa, descrive il tragico punto di partenza che l'ha portata nel meraviglioso mondo della micologia: l’improvvisa morte del marito e il processo di lutto seguito alla perdita.
In questo senso, non è difficile capire che la sua ricerca, è diventato un percorso verso rinascita e la vita.

Long Litt Woon ha fatto amicizia con i raccoglitori di funghi, ha viaggiato attraverso le bellissime foreste norvegesi, ha osservato le anonime aiuole urbane, ha percorso le spiagge della Corsica a Central Park per scoprire tutte quelle meraviglie naturali che spesso passano inosservate: funghi che sembrano usciti dai calderoni delle streghe di Macbeth, sanguinelli color rosa che tagliati diventano rossi, le spugnole che una volta essiccate sono "un’esperienza sensoriale ultraterrena" e i funghi luminescenti che rischiarano i sentieri boschivi quando cala la notte.

La passione per i funghi, oltre ad essere una scoperta della biodiversità, é stato per lei un modo di relazionarsi con la fauna e di amare il camminare nel bosco, “la miglior cura contro il malumore”

Ed è proprio lungo la strada che ha capito che il gesto di dare la sua piena attenzione al mondo naturale le ha fatto guardare il mondo con occhi nuovi sapendo che la natura è un ritorno alla luce.

Da leggere e imparare le regole del buonsenso micologico a fine volume!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m strangely drawn to a weird niche category of books where the author takes up a particular—and often unusual—hobby to deal with grief after the loss of a loved one. Helen Macdonald’s H is For Hawk falls into this category, as does Katie Arnold’s more recent book about ultrarunning, Running Home. So Litt Woon Long’s new memoir, The Way Through the Woods, in which she describes being drawn into the world of mushroom hunting after the sudden death of her husband, was immediately appealing to me. There’s a LOT about the study of mushrooms (known as mycology) here—where to find them, how to identify them, what to cook with them and how to become an expert mycologist. And although I have no interest in ever taking up this hobby, I enjoyed the glimpse into this world that Litt Woon Long provides and learned a lot along the way. The grief narrative is a little more muted, the reason for which becomes clear in the author’s note at the end, when she says she layered the parts about her husband into her original concept for a book about mushroom hunting. Because of this, I found the book a bit less satisfying than H is for Hawk and Running Home, but it was still an interesting read, and a must if you’re into mycology.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[☆ maddy ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“La via del bosco” è una lunga e profonda riflessione sul lutto e sul dolore, un saggio sui funghi e anche un romanzo sulla rinascita di una donna che ha perso il suo compagno di vita. È un libro sorprendente che mi ha catturato sin dalla prima pagina. È arricchito di splendide illustrazioni e informazioni tecniche sulla micologia. Non sono mai stata appassionata di funghi nella mia vita ma dopo questa lettura ho voglia di perdermi anche io nei boschi per ammirarli.
Assolutamente consigliato!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t resist the sound of a bereavement memoir crossed with a mushroom hunting guide. When Long met her husband, Eiolf Olsen, she was an 18-year-old Malaysian exchange student in Stavanger, Norway. Meeting Eiolf changed the whole course of her life, keeping her in Europe for good; decades later, her life changed forever once again when Eiolf dropped dead at work one morning. “If anyone had told me that mushrooms would be my lifeline, the thing that would help me back onto my feet and quite literally back onto life’s track, I would have rolled my eyes. What had mushrooms to do with mourning?” she writes.

The answer to that rhetorical question is nothing much, at least not inherently, so this ends up becoming a book of two parts, with the bereavement strand (printed in green and in a different font – green is for grief? I suppose) engaging me much more than the mushroom-hunting one, which takes her to Central Park and the annual Telluride, Colorado mushroom festival as well as to Norway’s woods again and again – “In Norway, outdoor life is tantamount to a religion.” But the quest for wonder and for meaning is a universal one. In addition, if you’re a mushroom fan you’ll find gathering advice, tasting notes, and even recipes. I fancy trying the “mushroom bacon” made out of oven-dried shiitakes.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[char · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard for me to criticize this book and why I didn't enjoy it without criticizing the author and her personal journey through grief. Because her interest is so strongly in just edible mushrooms — something she comments on, astounded that some would care about inedible mushrooms! can you imagine?? — she loses out on a lot of explicit and time-honored overlap between fungi and death. I expected discussions of mushrooms' beauty despite (or in spite of) their ephemeral nature, of mushrooms that feed off of dead organic nature including corpses, how historically mushrooms have served as a bridge between life and death. What can mushrooms teach us about mourning? What we got instead was two disjointed and almost entirely unrelated narratives that seldom crossed paths: her experiences adjusting to the loss of her husband and her experiences learning about (primarily edible) mushrooms. I frequently struggled to find the connection between her discussions of mycological topics and her asides about grief.

I did enjoy learning about the Norwegian mycological community, but other than that, this was really a disappointing struggle.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malaysian anthropologist Long Litt Woon’s The Way Through the Woods: Overcoming Grief Through Nature is a meditation on grief, and how nature helped her to regain some of the joy in life. The memoir centres around the sudden death of her Norwegian husband, Eiolf Olsen, in 2010. The pair had been married for thirty-two years, when she received the news that Eiolf had collapsed at work in his Oslo office, and could not be resuscitated. Long was understandably bereft, ‘disoriented, aimless, lost.’ It is only when she chooses to wander ‘deep into the woods and attunes herself to Nature’s chorus that she learns how the wild might restore us to hope, and to life after death.’

I love blends of memoir and the natural world, and was immediately drawn to this tome. I have found a lot of solace in nature myself, particularly during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. I was particularly interested in the way in which Long found solace in learning about mushrooms, with the help of various Norwegian associations. She first signed up to an introductory mushroom-picking course run by the Natural History Museum in Oslo, where she meets others from all walks of life: ‘Like all other communities, mushroom pickets represent a microcosm of society as a whole, although I didn’t see this to begin with.’ Something was sparked within her to continue on her journey of learning. She took the ‘inspector’s exam’, which has existed in Norway since 1952, and she is now a certified mycology professional. For Long, passing this exam was a ‘rite of passage’.

At the outset of her memoir, Long writes: ‘My new interest in mycology brought joy and meaning to my life at a time when everything looked very dark.’ She goes on to write that her concept for the book underwent many changes before publication: ‘… the link between my exploration of the world of fungi and my wandering through the wilderness of grief seemed to be the most interesting story here. So this book tells of two parallel journeys: an outer one, into the realm of mushrooms, and an inner one, through the landscape of mourning.’ She tells us that the study of fungi ‘offered my fresh perspectives and led me, little by little, to a new standpoint.’

Long’s prose is beautiful, particularly when she weaves in her descriptions of the natural world: ‘It is very easy, I find, to be lured deeper and deeper into the dark forest and suddenly find one’s self alone and surrounded by huge trees, with no obvious way back. At such times, it is not hard to imagine that you can hear the trees whispering to one another that they are going to catch this little mushroom gatherer with their long branches.’ I also really enjoyed the calm which she portrayed; when looking for mushrooms, you have to use all of your focus, ‘turn off your mobile phone… and simply be there – in the woods.’

Throughout, Long speaks of her grief, and her disbelief about Eiolf’s death, with raw honesty. She says: ‘I wanted to suffer every ounce of the torment… It was confirmation that he had lived, that he had been my husband. I did not want that to be gone as well.’ Later, she adds: ‘Life doesn’t end in a single moment, with one last gasp for breath. Death is made up of thousands of little moments, divine in their banality. They are so precious and I treasure every one of them.’ Following Eiolf’s funeral, she painfully remembers the following: ‘I went willingly into an inner exile. My sorrow swelled until it took over my life. I was swamped by grief: I woke in the morning, but had no desire to get up. I viewed the world through one single, solitary peephole, that of loss and pain… The end of a great era in my life was a fact.’ Her grief prompts Long to ask endless questions of herself, even whether she should stay in Norway, where she has lived for the majority of her life. She asks such things as: ‘Who am I now? I can’t live the life I once had, but I don’t know how my new life should be… I don’t really know what I’m looking for.’

Long describes, in detail, the many effects of her grief, from the complete numbing of her senses and loss of appetite, to insomnia. She no longer has interest in things which used to bring her joy, like reading, or music: ‘The shock of Eiolf’s death had plunged me into a deep well and apathy settled over me like a thick blanket that I couldn’t kick off.’

Mushrooms are used for so much in the modern world: as the basis for drugs essential for organ transplantation and cancer treatment; as natural dyes for yarn; as a source of inspiration for nature photographers; as food. The world of fungi is vast, and it is difficult even for experts to pinpoint the numbers of different species around the world. In Norway, Long imparts, 44,000 species have been recorded: fungi make up almost 20% of this total, whereas only 0.2% are mammals. There are such differences between them, too. As Long writes: ‘… fungi present a riotous cornucopia: mushrooms come not only in brown and white, but in every imaginable, and unimaginable, shape and hue. They may be stubby and springy, lovely and graceful, delicate and transparent, or so spectacular and bizarre that they seem like something from another planet.’

Long is open about how her new interest soon became a passion, and the positive effects which it had upon her. She is keen to share her experiences, telling us: ‘With each new mushroom I learned to identify, every new site I visited, and every new mushroom buddy I made, I gradually became more integrated into the community. And, although I didn’t know it, each of these experiences represented another tiny mouse-step towards the end of the black tunnel of mourning.’

The Way Through the Woods was originally published in Norwegian, and has been flawlessly translated into English by Barbara J. Haveland. The book was longlisted for the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature in 2019, and contains a ‘mushroom register’ in its appendix, along with an extensive bibliography and notes section. There are also charming illustrations scattered throughout the narrative, all of which were drawn by the author.

The narrative has been cleverly arranged, split into more measured sections which focus heavily upon mycology, and other, more emotional chapters about her relationship with Eiolf, and her place in the world after his death. Both are shown in different fonts. Ideas between the two inevitably overlap, but I did find this to be an interesting technique.

The Way Through the Woods is highly expansive, both in terms of the memories it relates, and its nature writing. I found Long to be an utterly charming narrator, and particularly loved the scene in which she describes a mushroom which she has been seeking for a long time: ‘This discovery seemed totally undeserved, like being allowed to lap up the vanilla custard filling without having to eat the rest of the bun first.’ Long is an excellent writer, blending serious subjects, and a real keenness for the world around her, with humour. She shares with us moments big and lifechanging, and small and comforting. The mycology here is very specific, but other themes – death, loss, grief, healing – are universal.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funghi, lutto, ma soprattutto un libro che mi ha riportata agli anni della mia infanzia quando andavo a raccogliere Amanita caesarea e Russula virescens con mio padre o i miei cugini più grandi, per poi mangiarli insieme, direttamente dalla piastra, con sale e pane. Ricordo la mia meraviglia di fronte alla scoperta di nuovi funghi edibili ("ma questi si mangiano?! 😮") e la preoccupazione di non toccare ciò che non conoscevo.
Ad alcuni forse sembra scontato, altri non ci hanno mai pensato: quando si è stranieri in un paese, una delle prime cose che disturbano è non saper nominare i cibi, la frutta, la verdura. E mentre il rumeno assomiglia abbastanza all'italiano per alcune categorie (es pane - pâine, latte - lapte, insalata - salată), beh, la stessa cosa non vale per i funghi. È tutto da reimparare da capo, nonostante i funghi siano sempre quelli (non come per il formaggio ad esempio dove il parmigiano è tipico italiano, quindi lo conosci e basta) come se fossi una bambina, solo che bambina non lo sono più. C'è anche da dire che regioni e paesi diversi si approcciano al consumo in modi diversi. Ciò che si mangia in un paese, viene snobbato in un altro e alcune volte è capitato che i raccoglitori di funghi scambiassero per una specie edibile dei paesi d'origine, funghi non mangerecci.
Questo libro mi ha fatto venire voglia di andare a funghi pertanto ve lo consiglio caldamente.

[ranaemoranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️,5

[Moira Macfarlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

De ondertitel van dit boek is 'Een persoonlijk boek over het leven, de dood, liefde en paddenstoelen', daar kan ik aan toevoegen: vóóral paddenstoelen. Ik wist waar ik aan begon, want het was al zichtbaar toen ik het boek doorbladerde.
Een hoop opgestoken over paddenstoelen, best interessant, want het gaat hier ook over details. Én minstens zoveel opgestoken over de paddenstoelencommunity, zo'n groep paddenstoelenfanatici vind ik net zo fascinerend als die paddenstoelen zelf. Heb er vaak om moeten grinniken en vond ze ook geregeld vermoeiend, maar ik heb wel een zwak voor mensen met zo'n blinde-vlek-hobby.
Naast de paddenstoelen vertelt Long Litt Woon ook over het plotselinge verlies van haar man en haar weg daarin, mooi vond ik. Wel had ik het meer een geheel gevonden als haar verlies, haar rouwverwerking net iets meer een plek hadden gekregen in dit boek.

Als je paddenstoelen wilt vinden moet je je mobieltje uitzetten, in de paddenstoelenmodus gaan en aanwezig zijn - in het bos.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was surprisingly an easy read, perhaps because I love?? eating?? mushrooms?? so reading about hunting delicious wild mushrooms while learning how to navigate bereavement seemed like a no-brainer. There are so many things I would like to commend about this book - the author’s voice is clear and gentle throughout, openly sharing her journey of exploring the world of mycology, grief is threaded throughout while mushrooms take centre stage, her thoughts on how this hobby allowed her to come to grips with being a widow, the cultural comparisons between her home country Malaysia and Norway... Ultimately, this book brings hope to anyone going through a difficult loss, that change awaits in even the most unexpected of places, if only you allow yourself to take that small step out.

[⋆｡‧˚ʚ Emma ɞ˚‧｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit more textbook-y than I expected so it took me a while to get through. 2/5*

[erigibbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5]

Un libro che parla di lutto e di come si possa ricominciare a vivere, lentamente e con difficoltà, dopo la perdita della persona amata. In questo caso l’autrice ha iniziato a respirare, e a notare nuovamente il mondo che la circonda, iscrivendosi a un corso di micologia per principianti.
Le passeggiate in mezzo ai boschi, nella natura, e le informazioni sui funghi, la ricerca, la raccolta, la cucina e le mangiate, in solitudine e non, l’hanno fatta pian piano riemergere da quello stato di apatia in cui si era ritrovata.
Amo leggere libri sui funghi e questo non mi ha delusa. Anche per me è stato rilassante assistere a queste passeggiate in mezzo alla natura. Sarà che di base è proprio quando sono circondata dagli alberi che inizio di nuovo a respirare.
Mi è piaciuto davvero molto, ho sottolineato tantissime cose - sia sui funghi, perché su di loro non si smette mai di imparare, sia sulle riflessioni dell’autrice inerenti il lutto, la perdita e il dolore - e onestamente se scovassi nelle vicinanze un corso per micologi principianti, con esperti che non solo mi parlano di funghi, ma mi portano pure a fare scampagnate in mezzo ai boschi a cercarli e raccoglierli, mi iscriverei subito.

[Nóra Ugron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give 3 stars because the book sometimes have classist remarks, and this pisses me off greatly. Luckily very rarely, so 90% of the book is really about mushrooms and foraging in practice. And grief. But I enjoy reading about mushrooms soo much, that I had to give 4 stars in the end.

I loved reading about personal experiences with learning to pick mushrooms, as I could relate to my experience when I discovered this new world in 2019 in Oulanka forest in Finland. The book was refreshing for some knowledge I already acquired and gave also new perspectives, so I think it can be a useful read for mushroom pickers that are not very advanced but neither complete beginners. Maybe it is nice for complete beginners as well, as it is written in a very accessible language, but for me it was important that everything I read I could relate to my already existing knowledge and put the information in dialogue of how I am doing things, how people in Finland do things, and some childhood memories from Romania/ friends' experiences from Romania, compared to Long Litt Woon's experience in Norway. (Must be said, Norway is a weird place from the perspective of mushroom picking... read the book if you wanna know why!

This is not a mushroom identification book, so it is no useful for actually learning the species, but it is a very entertaining read if you have read mushroom catalogues before or simply you know some species for example, as this gives a personal touch to a lot of information on different mushrooms. I guess it is interesting to read if one is only excited about mushrooms, but doesn't know much about them as well, but I can imagine it might be a long list of different fun facts of things one doesn't really understand.

There are some small illustrations in it, but not many, I wished for more and more detailed pictures of mushrooms!

As about the grief: when I started actively and alone picking mushrooms in Finland, I was quite depressed, and foraging really helped me to rediscover pleasure in life, so I can very much relate to the author's journey through grief while learning to pick mushrooms. I also wrote my poetry collection about grieving a lost romantic relationship in connection with mushrooms, so it was nice to discover how in other contexts people related mushrooms and grief. Even now, reading about mushrooms calms my anxiety, as I recall how it is to wade through mossy forest floors sometimes even in rainfall in order to find some species. Maybe even the sole thought of mushrooms growing and existing in the world, is somehow relaxing.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non sono un'appassionata di funghi, nel senso che mangio solo quelli sicurissimi che trovo al supermercato (anche se mi piace cucinarli in molti modi). Però mi piace moltissimo "raccogliere", quando posso, anche cose che non mi piacciono. Tuttavia non mi sognerei mai di andare a raccogliere funghi, perché so che rischierei di rovinare il campo per gli esperti con gesto maldestri o raccogliendo qualcosa di velenoso che renderebbe nocivo anche tutto il resto.
Tuttavia ho trovato interessante questo libro, in cui l'antropologa Long Litt Woon cerca di elaborare il lutto in seguito alla morte del marito Eiolf iscrivendosi a un corso di micologia per principianti e diventandone una tale appassionata - anche piuttosto esperta - da rinunciare ad andare al matrimonio di un caro amico pur di non mancare a un convegno di micologia. A sua parziale discolpa si può dire che lei era una delle organizzatrici del convegno.

È capitato a tutti noi, da bambini, di restare incantati a guardare qualcosa – per esempio l’alacre lavoro delle formiche – ed esserne talmente affascinati da non sentire che qualcuno ci chiamava a tavola. La fiaba della micologia ha lo stesso effetto: quando si è a caccia di funghi, si dimentica il tran tran quotidiano. L’istinto del cacciatore-raccoglitore si accende e in un attimo ci si ritrova teletrasportati in un mondo fatato. La concentrazione si acuisce, la tensione aumenta: riusciremo a trovare il tesoro micologico? E quando finalmente si scorge un bel gallinaccio – o magari due, o tre – capita di ritrovarsi a dirgli: «Mamma mia, quanto sei bello!» o anche: «Vieni, tesoro, vieni dalla mamma!»

Il libro spazia su diversi aspetti che riguardano la raccolta e il consumo di funghi (naturalmente l'aspetto antropologico del raccoglitore di funghi tipo non può mancare), la descrizione di alcuni funghi, con le varie caratteristiche (e un disegno in bianco e nero, che è decisamente insufficiente se qualcuno decidesse di usare questo libro come riferimento per andare per boschi!), le differenze di classificazione tra una nazione e l'altra (funghi considerati tossici da una parte, vengono mangiati e persino serviti legittimamente al ristorante in un'altra), tanti aneddoti, qualche ricetta e tanti ricordi di Eiolf, a cui il libro è dedicato.

[Ania Gaska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love memoirs that combine personal experience with learning, and this one has sucked me in and made me feel for the author and just as excited about mushrooms as she is! I want to go to Norway now!

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon the sudden and unexpected death of her beloved husband, the author embarks on two new journeys - one without her husband, and a newfound love for wild mushrooming.

What a beautiful book!

[Luca · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Way Through This Book: Overcoming Boredom Through Shrooms

[Lisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. At the beginning I was a bit hesitant because I didn’t really feel like reading about losing a loved one. But, I really like it when people info dump on topics they are passionate about, so I really enjoyed reading all about mushrooms and I feel like I’ll look at them differently now, if I come across them. I don’t think mushrooms have much to do with mourning, but that finding something you can feel passionate about again is important when you’ve lost something so important to you. Like finding small reasons to get up again everyday, until one day life’s a little easier.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book that explores the process of mourning and mycology. I learned a lot from this book about mushrooms and the mycology community. I always love learning about people's niche interests, so it was very fascinating to get a look into this established community, learn its (spoken and unspoken) rules and courtesies.
As the protagonist was joining this community, I too felt like a new-comer seemingly surrounded by established experts. As the protagonist learns more about mycology, she also uncovers unspoken and taboo topics, and begins to contribute her knowledge to a less understood/established area of mycology.
I enjoyed the book, but it was not particularly remarkable. Although the inclusion of Latin and scientific mushroom names was interesting, it didn't feel necessary to get the story across.
(3.5/5)

[Bianca Rose (Belladonnabooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly beautiful story of love, loss and the life changing impact mushrooming has on a woman’s journey through grief.

This book explores finding meaning again in life’s small moments and the joy of being in the flow. It was so lovely to see Long find beauty and hope again in the natural world.

The book weaves between both her journeys of grief and mushrooming. I thought this was done cleverly and in quite a poignant way.

I feel anyone who has experienced grief and loss and lovers of the natural world or cottagecore would enjoy this beautiful little book.

[Emma Davison (A Cup Of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was simply stunning

[Scribe Publications]

This is one of the most surprising and original books I have read in a long time — so much to learn and reflect about the human condition and about a natural phenomenon.
Knut Olav Åmås (Norwegian Critic, Commentator, and Writer)

It is poetic, warm and moving, and steeped in life wisdom.
Sissel Gran (Norwegian Psychologist and Author)

[A] heartfelt and honest account of overcoming loss that will give hope to readers in a simple, yet profound way. In her beautifully written first book, Long shares a way to feel anew by setting foot on a different path, discovering a spark of joy, and finding meaning again. Readers who appreciate the journeys through grief found in memoirs like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (2012) or Shannon Leone Fowler’s Traveling with Ghosts (2017) should pick this up.
Melissa Norstedt, Booklist

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

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

This thoughtful, touching account explores Woon’s experience learning mushroom foraging in the aftermath of tragedy ... With charming sketches of the various mushrooms Woon encounters, this moving memoir explores one woman’s journey through grief and will please fans of personal narratives as well as those who may be interested in mushroom foraging.
Venessa Hughes, Library Journal

Among the 20 “utterly engrossing” non-fiction books for the summer of 2019.
Bookbub

One of the most beautiful books of the year. A touching and funny story which also is familiar because it touches on one of the most common and dreaded experiences. A scholarly and literary work to embellish your life.
Bookstore Le Square in Grenoble

Poetic, moving, original. One of the books we talked about this year.
L’Escapade Bookstore

An ode to resilience, humour and change.
Simple Things

Long Litt Woon delivers, in addition to an accurate mycology, a little lesson in wisdom.
Hebdo Books

Existential questions as tasty as morels.
L’Obs

An informative and playful book, sensitive and without pathos. Long Litt Woon’s enthusiasm is highly contagious.
Tela Botanica

A jewel.
La revue numérique de l’alca

She can make her subject captivating by pressing all the buttons of the curious reader of nature.
Cri de l’ormeau

Remarkable, pedagogical, original, delightful.
Voyage dans les lettres nordiques

The Way Through the Woods will make a lovely gift for the curious bushwalker, recently bereaved person, or even the niche hobbyist in your life.
Georgia Delaney, Readings

When Malaysian-born anthropologist Long Litt Woon’s husband of 32 years dropped dead at work one summer’s morning, she lost not only the love of her life but her passport to society in her adopted home of Norway. Numb with grief, she had only platitudes to navigate her way through the wilderness of bereavement – until she found unexpected joy and a new tribe of friends who shared an offbeat interest: picking mushrooms in the Norwegian woods.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail

A Malaysian woman mourns the death of her Norwegian husband by foraging for mushrooms—from morels to Yellow Knights—in this singular memoir in which the author becomes a “traveler in the fungi kingdom”.
The Oprah Magazine, ‘10 August Books You Should Read Right Now’

There’s something of the really life fairytale about the way mushrooms guided Long Litt Woon through the woods of grief after her husband’s sudden death ... “To feel the flow is to find meaning, and to find meaning is to quiet and transform the storm inside.” In this way, mushrooming becomes an apt and mysterious metaphor for mourning’s “fieldwork of the heart” and the unexpected consolations it can yield.
Fiona Capp, The Age

[W]ritten by an exceptional woman who deigns to let us in on her unusual way through grief ... you will learn a lot about how she perceives people (indeed they appear to be her favourite subject second only to fungi) and her notes on human existence will delight and humour you ... you will also learn more about mushrooms than you ever knew you needed. [Woon] balances hefty scientific antidotes with the truly fantastic places her mushroom research has taken her. From perfumers to poison guides, there is nothing Woon will describe that won’t leave you hungry for more. A truly wonderful book about life and grief and mushrooms, The Way Through The Woods deserves all the praise it has been reaping and more.
Rave Cay Lane Wren, The Seattle Book Review

Woon writes about meeting new friends happy to wander through the Norwegian woods with her, spellbound by the hunt. As peculiar as that may sound to most people, mushroom hunters will understand immediately the peculiar joy of discovering fungi, especially rare ones, deep in the beautiful and mysterious woods ... Long is a poetic writer who melds what at first seem to be the most disparate possible topics into a profound and beautiful memoir, and one that is not at all just for mushroom enthusiasts.
Rave Newsday

[Sophia Pekowsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a charming book and a super original conceit! I loved the author's narrative voice, she sounded so matter-of-fact and lovely. While it definitely did inspire me to try some urban foraging, it ultimately did not hold my attention, I think it's hard to maintain interest in mushrooms for an extended period of time if you're not a true fanatic. I would have liked more info on the mourning and maybe a little less on the mushrooms.

[Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so beautifully written and I was touched by the authors “use” of mycology in her grief and making sense of the world. This book contains many facts about mushrooms while connecting to the authors story of loss, which is something I haven’t seen before. I will say the G slur was used a couple times in the book which was very unnecessary. It was also very heteronormative. Overall a great read.

[María · Rating 2 out of 5]

Verplicht een non-fictie boek (die alleen maar over paddenstoelen gaat, ja echt) lezen, is best taai… hoewel mijn interesse in het nemen van shrooms hierdoor wel is verhoogd (neemt vast meer plezier met zich mee), was het een lichtelijke verspilling van tijd
Edit: het voelt verkeerd om weinig sterren te geven op een boek die een mevrouw heeft geschreven als een rouwproces om haar man dus ergens snap ik die vrouw ook wel weer; lekker beetje in het bos paddenstoelen plukken!!! Maar persoonlijk was ik wel gewoon echt aan het strijden om dit uit te krijgen

[Roksana Dziewulska · Rating 2 out of 5]

nastawiłam się trochę na co innego, myślałam, że będzie trochę więcej żałoby, a było jej może 15% książki, reszta to 🍄