Pure Land: A True Story of Three Lives, Three Cultures, and the Search for Heaven on Earth by Annette McGivney.

3/5 rating. 328 pages.

Book #31 of 2022. Read July 14, 2022.

This is the true story of three different people’s lives and their connection through a grisly murder.

The story is focused around Tomomi Hanamure, an adventurous Japanese woman who was killed while hiking near Havasupai Falls. It also tells about her murderer, and finally Annette’s experience and transformation from exploring these different people’s lives.

It is immediately obvious why everyone who met Tomomi was drawn to her, as her kindness, love for nature, and constant travelling made for one interesting woman. Annette began her foray into her death for an article in @backpackermag magazine, but realized that she felt a strong kinship with this girl who just wanted to see more and more of the US. This pushes her to explore much more about this woman. Annette is finally able to tackle some of her demons and gain a sense of understanding about herself through the long journey of learning about Tomomi.

This book was good, it just was missing something to make it great. I thought the first half started slow, though I did enjoy the second half much more. The backstories on Tomomi, her murderer, and Annette were a great look at the different ways people deal with trauma, which I thought was interesting.

Quotes:

“The dominant culture tells our kids: buy, obey, consume.”

“When she wanted something, she figured out how to get it. There was no stopping her “

“I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.” – John Steinbeck

“I have wandered so far from the way I was supposed to go”

“‘No, she changed her life,’ Tetsushi said. ‘She decided what she wanted and made it happen.’”

“In other words, the United States is entrenched in a self-perpetuating cycle of violence: untreated child abuse victims go on to create more victims.”

“The farther I walked into the woods, and the wilder my surroundings got, the safer I felt and the more it fed my soul.”

#pureland #nativeamerican #havasupai #japan #murder #bookreview #books

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