By Holly Cuthbert

Emma Hooper’s 'Etta and Otto and Russell and James' is a critically well received book that is a little lacking in content.

'Etta and Otto and Russell and James' is a book about an 82 year old woman who goes on a long walk in Canada. Her greatest desire is to see the sea so she leaves her home and her husband to just walk and leaves a note saying that she will try to remember to come back.

The book flits from the current time period of Etta’s walk to the past. It covers Etta and her husband Otto meeting and also their best friend Russell who has always been in love with Etta. Stories are told at random in a stream of events that are not in any chronological order.

Interesting snippets appear and make a loose picture of the lives of these three people but the story rambles and doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. Etta also reveals more of her story by talking to the coyote that is apparently walking with her and who she calls James. And yes, the coyote talks back.

For me, James the talking coyote was the most enjoyable thing about the book as it made me wonder if either Etta or myself had completely drifted away from reality and would be unable to return.

Some of the small snippets of story were quite sweet. Russell’s love for Etta after all these years of living next door was heart-warming and his choice to follow her, even with a bad leg, while her husband just waited for her return was thought provoking.

To those who require no particular structure or plotline to their reading it can be a worthwhile read but otherwise I cannot honestly recommend this book although it was a technically well written debut novel.