Tumblehome: One Woman's Canoeing Adventures in the Divine Near Wilderness

by Brenda Missen

On a warm August evening, Brenda Missen, a 37-year-old single, unattached writer, pitches her tent beside a lake in Canada’s 7,600 square-kilometre [3,000 square-mile] Algonquin Provincial Park. She is on a four-night “reconnaissance mission,” an hour’s paddle from the parking lot, to find out if she has the capability—and nerve—to one day take a real canoe trip in the park interior by herself. Paddling and portaging from her campsite by day and surviving imaginary bear attacks by night, she decides she’s ready. Then a ranger arrives to check her permit, and an inexplicable, powerful intuition tells her this is the person she’s meant to marry. Going solo may not be necessary after all.

But the fairy tale unravels. In the wake of a broken engagement to her One True Paddling Partner, Brenda ventures into the near wilderness on a series of solo canoe trips that blow all her perceptions of romance, relationships, God, and her own self (gently) out of the water. In our high-tech, urban age, when so many people are disconnected from the natural world, Tumblehome—part spiritual memoir, part travel adventure, and great part ode to the Earth—is a timely and important exploration of where our real roots lie.

Literary Nonfiction.

350 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2022

Reviews

[Lucy Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both amusing and moving, Tumblehome: One Woman’s Canoeing Adventures in the Divine Near Wilderness by Brenda Missen is an incredible memoir. Missen has spent many years canoeing and camping alone in Algonquin Park. Never having found her “one true paddling partner” Missen struggles to come to terms with both her singleness and her need for intimacy, all while striving to find inner peace and confronting very large bears. The beauty of the unspoiled park and her deep sense of contentment and joy when she has immersed herself in nature is infectious, and her beaming smiles shine from the pages as she recounts the loveliness of her surroundings. Missen’s encounters with a park ranger, other canoeists and a local real estate agent inject an element of tension into the narrative, as she shares the details of those relationships with true candour. We feel her confusion and pain as she reconciles some of the more difficult aspects of her interactions. Throughout her adventures, Missen focuses on ‘remembering to be’. A lapsed Catholic, she continues to seek spiritual truth and wholeness. Her brave and determined quest is inspiring, as is her exampled reliance on intuition. A wonderful story about female agency and an independent spirit. Highly recommended.

[Lisa Nikolits]

My Review:
This memoir is a joy to read on so many levels. A fourfold story:
- An intimate map of the flora and fauna – notably, bears! – of Ontario, exquisite detail.
- Then, a completely relatable, often hilarious, crushing encounters of the romantic nature, with all the desire, hope, fear, joy, anxiety, pain, exhilaration and longing that are an integral part of the human experience.
- Then, a spiritual, mystical exploration of Catholicism and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Missen’s connection to nature is jaw-dropping and if cleanliness is close to godliness, then nature is even more so.
- Then, bravery. I’m a woman who loves a good hat and I take all of them off to Brenda Missen for her courage for her solo journeys, or with her niece or later, with a trusty canine companion.

There are so many gems to be mined in this memoir and I’m sure Missen’s grandmother would agree wholeheartedly that we all “got our diamond with this one.” Funny, unique, this fabulous journey is a triumph for Brenda who tumbledhome (a canoeing term, I learned) with the great of style.

[maddi1134 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Love this style of writing that stitches together two journeys simultaneously. In this case, solo paddling trips with life situations happening outside of the trips. Her spiritual journey was interesting, though not the kind of thing I would usually read. I did appreciate her openess to various belief systems. Good read.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't get to finish this one, I know I won't have time being 3 days before Christmas and it's overdue at the library. Would have appreciated a bit more about the plants, trees and wildlife on her paddles.
Definitely could relate to her fear of bears, always on my mind in cottage country!