“The pain advances; her entire head is an exposed nerve, a jagged blade scraping the inside of her skull. A terrible pressure builds up against her eyeballs and the ice pick that skewers down the small of her back drives straight into her left leg. She stifles a scream. When she walks, her leg drags behind her like a dead animal.”

Thus begins our first encounter with Aubry Tourvel, a young woman who, like a shark, needs to keep moving or else she will die. A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD, librarian Douglas Westerbeke’s debut novel, is both a fantasy and a horror story about a very human predicament.

"There is as much joy as there is pain in A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD. It is a world worth exploring, and Westerbeke is a writer you will want to watch."

When Aubry is traveling, it is because the alternative is all too painful and debilitating. A terrible blood borne illness has taken hold of her body and sends her into a bleeding torment each time she has been somewhere for too long. Her unfortunate situation began when she found a wooden puzzle ball while walking home from school with her sisters. Although she tossed it over the fence, it ended up in her backpack that night.

Ever since, this strange ball (whose puzzle Aubry can never quite solve, like an evil Rubik’s Cube) gets lost and then finds its way back to her in some mystifying manner. Is this because she has activated its power? Is it because she controls it? Is it just a coincidence, and her mystery illness comes from some other place or time? No one can be quite sure.

A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD is not an easy read. The specifics of Aubry’s debilitating response to each new medical episode is downright disgusting. Her painful writhing, the bleeding from every orifice, and the descriptions of the terrified folks in each place who try desperately to help her (only to find the event over once she literally moves to a new spot) all translate to compelling yet uncomfortable reading. Still, if readers can make it through the gory details, there is a story here filled with hope and good spiritual messages.

Westerbeke writes in a very down-to-earth manner, giving careful but interesting perspectives on Aubry’s unique problem. She becomes a more fully wrought character the longer she is on the road. During this years-long trip, Aubry meets, loves, fights with and learns from citizens from all corners of the world. Strangely enough, it isn’t hard to put yourself in her situation and consider how you would handle such a heavy burden.

There is as much joy as there is pain in A SHORT WALK THROUGH A WIDE WORLD. It is a world worth exploring, and Westerbeke is a writer you will want to watch.