Barnes & NobleThe Way Through the Woods - On Mushrooms and Mourning by Long Litt Woon

A grieving widow discovers a most unexpected form of healing-hunting for mushrooms. "Moving long tells the story of finding hope after despair lightly and artfully, with self-effacement and so much gentle good nature." - The New York Times Long Litt Woon met Eiolf a month after arriving in Norway from Malaysia as an exchange student. They fell in love, married, and settled into domestic bliss. Then Eiolf's unexpected death at fifty-four left Woon struggling to imagine a life without the man who had been her partner and anchor for thirty-two years. Adrift in grief, she signed up for a beginner's course on mushrooming-a course the two of them had planned to take together-and found, to her surprise, that the pursuit of mushrooms rekindled her zest for life. The Way Through the Woods tells the story of parallel journeys - an inner one, through the landscape of mourning, and an outer one, into the fascinating realm of mushrooms-resilient, adaptable, and essential to nature's cycle of death and rebirth. From idyllic Norwegian forests and urban flower beds to the sandy beaches of Corsica and New York's Central Park, Woon uncovers an abundance of surprises often hidden in plain sight - salmon-pink Bloody Milk Caps, which ooze red liquid when cut, delectable morels, prized for their earthy yet delicate flavor.