Hiking Naked Author to Read at Darvills

Wednesday, October 18, 6 p.m., Darvills Bookstore

— by Lin McNulty —

Looking for a book to peacefully settle into? Iris Graville’s Hiking Naked: A Quaker Woman’s Search for Balance, then, is your perfect companion.

Finding only stress and unanswered questions after 20 years in nursing, she convinces her husband and 13-year old twins to make a bold move — to literally move the family from Bellingham to the remote community of Stehekin at the far northwest end of Lake Chelan where there are 85 year-round residents. The village is accessible only by a ferry, float plane, or a long hike.

What follows is a peacefully unfolding journey of discovery. She questions whether she has “stayed in nursing because it serves my own need to feel valued rather than out of compassion for those I care for?” Couple that with new-found solitude and unforeseen realities such as a forest fire that threatens the entire village, ordering groceries by U.S. Mail to be delivered a few days later by boat, and a snowfall that is measured in feet.

Described as a blend of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Graville’s memoir chronicles her spiritual search for meaningful work as she lands a job at the local bakery, gently urging dough into delicious treats for villagers and tourists. She pursues a life-long interest in writing and finds time to just “be.”

Her book should come with its own quilt to wrap up in while reading. Oh, wait…it is its own quilt, comforting and comfortable.

Iris Graville is the author of Hands at Work: Portraits and Profiles of People Who Work with Their Hands, recipient of numerous accolades including a Nautilus Gold Book Award, and BOUNTY—Lopez Island Farmers, Food, and Community. She also serves as publisher of SHARK REEF Literary Magazine. Iris lives and writes on Lopez Island. She was the School Nurse for Orcas Island School District, 2009-14.

Graville will read from Hiking Naked at Darvills Bookstore on Wednesday, October 18 at 6 p.m.