Emma Hooper's debut novel opens with Etta's note to her husband notifying him, "I've never seen the water, so I've gone there." Otto checks their globe and calculates Etta will have to traverse 3,232 kilometers--from the interior of Saskatchewan to Halifax, Nova Scotia--to see the Atlantic. "I will try to remember to come back," the note concludes. Thus begins the remarkable trek of 83-year-old Etta, whose journey advances in chapters alternating with the stories of the three best friends from childhood: Etta, Otto and their lifelong friend Russell. James, the fourth in the eponymous quartet, joins Etta as a most unlikely traveling companion.
Russell, an only child, preferred the bustling farm of Otto and his 13 siblings. Etta became their teacher at Gopherlands School at 18; World War II erupted as the boys reached draft age. Russell was deferred and remained behind, hoping to romance Etta, but her wartime correspondence with Otto led to marriage.
Now, decades later, Otto accepts Etta's journey but denies her wish to keep it a secret. When Russell discovers she's gone, he strikes out to find her and make sure she's safe. Both men act on their lifelong love for Etta, but her walking partner, James, is the surprising catalyst for Etta's reflections.
Hooper's prose--as spare as the Canadian plains, as rich as her unassuming characters--is slyly touched with the fantastical. Letters and flashbacks reveal striking histories, and the endearing protagonists embark on bold, out-of-character adventures in a style that recalls The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, manager, Book Passage, San Francisco