The Twenty: One Woman's Trek Across Corsica on the GR20 Trail

by Marianne C. Bohr

Overview

Great for fans of: Suzanne Roberts’s Almost Somewhere, Juliana Buhring’s This Road I Ride.

Marianne Bohr and her husband, about to turn sixty, are restless for adventure. They decide on an extended, desolate trek across the French island of Corsica—the GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath—to challenge what it means to grow old. Part travelogue, part buddy story, part memoir, The Twenty is a journey across a rugged island of stunning beauty little known outside Europe.


From a chubby, non-athletic child, Bohr grew into a fit, athletic person with an “I’ll show them” attitude. But hiking The Twenty forces her to transform a lifetime of hard-won achievements into acceptance of her body and its limitations. The difficult journey across a remote island provides the crucible for exploring what it means to be an aging woman in a youth-focused culture, a physically fit person whose limitations are getting the best of her, and the partner of a husband who is growing old with her. More than a hiking tale, The Twenty is a moving story infused with humor about hiking, aging, accepting life’s finite journey, and the intimacy of a long-term marriage—set against the breathtaking beauty of Corsica’s rugged countryside.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647424329
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marianne C. Bohr is freelance writer and travel blogger who married her high school sweetheart and travel partner. Four of her travel essays received Solas Awards, which honor excellence in travel writing. She has written two books chronicling her travels, Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries and The Twenty: One Woman's Trek Across Corsica on the GR20 Trail. She and her husband travel at every opportunity. Bohr lives in Park City, Utah, where—after decades in publishing and many years teaching middle school French—she skis, hikes, and writes.

Editorial Reviews

02/20/2023

In her search for a meaningful celebration of turning 60 and retiring, Bohr (Gap Year Girl) and her husband, Joe, resolved to hike the GR20, a 124-mile trek across the French island of Corsica. The couple, familiar with hiking since the “backpacking-around-Europe days” of their youth, planned ahead with training hikes around their Washington D.C. home and researched top-quality supplies, but Bohr’s shocking diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis shortly before their trip spawned deep-seated doubts about their plans. Bohr opens up about that fear, sharing a candid story of change, triumph, and adventure as the couple navigates one of Europe’s most daunting footpaths.

Readers will be captivated by Bohr’s fluid transitions between memoir and travelogue as she chronicles the couple’s trek. From their first sighting of the island by boat—“a phantom island rising from the depths”—to their shock, even after months of research, that Corsica is “basically a mountain in the Med that plunges into the sea,” their resolve to keep going is equal parts inspiring and daunting. Added to the mix are Bohr’s medical issues—painful joints, throbbing muscles, and fatigue—that continually threaten to make her “a statistic—part of the 50 percent who don’t complete The Twenty.” Readers will immediately sense this is a well-read, intellectual couple, both athletic and adventurous, unafraid to capture their fragility and raw emotion amidst the grandeur and realization of the many “lasts” they are facing.

Bohr’s willingness to lay bare the couple’s tender moments and doubt-filled reflections paints an intimate and well-rounded portrait, and the bonds they establish with their fellow hikers and the locals will entertain fans of adventure travel. Whether she’s recounting their stops along the Tour de France or a dizzying climb up an ascent used as training grounds for the French Foreign Legion, Bohr’s literary illustration of the journey, and culture of France, is a consummate treat.

Takeaway: This memoir/travelogue combination tracks a couple’s epic hike across Corsica.

Great for fans of: Suzanne Roberts’s Almost Somewhere, Juliana Buhring’s This Road I Ride.

Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: A Illustrations: NA Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

2024 IPPY Awards Bronze Winner in Travel (Essay)
2023 Foreword Indie Book Awards Silver Winner in Adventure, Sports & Recreation
2023 Best Book Awards Finalist in Travel: Guides & Essays
2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Non-Fiction (Women’s)
2023 International Book Awards Finalist in Travel: Guides & Essays

“Covering a perilous hike on a difficult European trail,The Twenty is the account of a quest to heal childhood wounds and stop striving for perfection.”
—Foreword Reviews

"Similar to narratives about trekking, hiking, and walking in such classics as Tracks by Robyn Davidson and Wild by Cheryl Strayed . . . ultimately triumphing in [Bohr's] own way and on her terms."
—Library Journal

“Bohr shows herself to be a natural storyteller, and her diaristic account is appealingly escapist. It’s a poetic reminder of the trails still left to tread, regardless of one’s age. Like all great travelogues, it will have readers itching to travel somewhere remote and outside their comfort zones.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Bohr’s willingness to lay bare the couple’s tender moments and doubt-filled reflections paints an intimate and well-rounded portrait, and the bonds they establish with their fellow hikers and the locals will entertain fans of adventure travel... a consummate treat."

—Publishers Weekly, BookLife

“The Twenty, Bohr’s second travel memoir, is as much a page-turner as her first, Gap Year Girl. Her writing is so descriptive that I felt I was hiking the 20 myself (something I would like to attempt even at the age of 66). I shared the author’s occasional disappointment and was amazed she didn’t give up. A feel-good must-read for all, especially baby boomers who believe that limits exist only in the mind."

—Mary Anne Marciante, International Marathoner and Hotel Ambassador, The St. Regis Deer Valley, UT

“You need to be strong, fit and agile in order to complete the GR20. It comes as no surprise to discover that most trekkers are young adults in tip-top condition. Marianne reminds us that age is no barrier to trekking the GR20, provided that careful planning is followed by careful foot placement. Her determination along the trail is inspiring."
—Paddy Dillon, author of The GR20 Corsica: Complete Guide to the High-Level Route

“In The Twenty, the sixty-year-old author shows that—with self-kindness—age need not slam the door on adventure. In this engrossing memoir cum travelogue, Bohr leads the reader on a 13-day trek over Europe’s most rugged trails, crossing Corsica’s mountains. As she inches along dizzying ledges, navigates slippery scree, and clings to cliff-side chains in hailstorms and blistering sun, your muscles clench until she reaches camp each night. It’s a compelling tale of perseverance, of burdens more easily borne when shared, of wisdom gained from loss. As a bonus, Bohr’s charming writing introduces the unique island’s history and culture. Highly recommended as an inspiring joyful read for intrepid trekkers and armchair adventurers alike!”

—Margaret Rodenberg, author of Finding Napoleon

“Marianne Bohr's magnetic narrative draws readers in and invites them to live vicariously through her vividly painted word pictures. And though I didn’t strip off my socks—pulling white flesh with them—at the end of each day, I journeyed alongside her on treacherous terrain, ascending and descending razor-sharp scree, jagged granite, and sheer, slippery rock slabs. It was as if I, too, felt my cautious way along narrow ledges and lived the leg-trembling reality of the 124-mile trek across Corsica. The Twenty is a story of human resilience that swept me away.”

—Laurie Buchanan, author of the Sean McPherson novels

“Marianne Bohr takes readers on a physical trek across Corsica and perhaps an even more arduous psychological one that is every bit as challenging as the rugged trail. At 60, she and her husband of 35 years tackle the GR 20, a 124-mile footpath considered to be Europe’s toughest hike. Along the way, Bohr challenges preconceived notions about aging, marriage, and how time can reshape self-image.”

—Davida G. Breier, author of Sinkhole

“The Twenty is an exhilarating and brave adventure story about Bohr’s trek with her husband on the GR20. The characters danced off the page and into my heart and I cheered them as they hiked across Corsica. I’m inspired to take on the twenty after reading this exciting, honest travel memoir.”

—Kathy Elkind, author of To Walk It Is To See It: 1 Couple, 98 Days, 1400 miles on Europe’s GR5

“The Twenty is well-written and interesting at every turn. But what the author captures so well is the inner trek to life’s third chapter. Just as the author finds new strength and courage physically on her Corsican adventure, she simultaneously discovers a deep well of psychological and spiritual strength that promises to keep life vital, growing, and changing. Bohr joins the ranks of aging women who will not go gently into that good night, and instead seizes every day with passion and purpose. An inspiring must-read for those wishing to enter the noble passage of aging with grace and gratitude.”

—Stephanie Raffelock, author of A Delightful Little Book On Aging, Creatrix Rising: Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women; and, editor of Life In The Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Writers Respond to the Call

From the Publisher

2023-02-09
In this memoir, retired middle school teacher Bohr recounts how she and her husband celebrated their upcoming 60th birthdays by hiking across the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

It was 2016, and in past years, the author and her spouse, Joe, had backpacked around Europe, and they figured a stroll along Corsica’s mountainous footpath GR20 (“Grande Randonéenumber 20”) would recapture some of that youthful magic: “We would rough it for two weeks, for at least eight hours a day on the trail, up and down elevation changes of over sixty-two thousand feet. The numbers were daunting but guaranteed magnificent vistas from sunbaked summits….” They trained for months to complete the 124-mile hike, hoping they could challenge conventional notions of how 60-year-olds should spend their golden years. The author documents each day of the trek over the island’s rugged terrain, and the couple’s Corsican odyssey effectively becomes her meditation on growing older—both as an athlete and as one-half of a couple that’s been married 35 years. Bohr is a talented nature writer, capturing the landscapes she traversed in painterly prose: “Above the steep path, stooped, centuries-old pines look down like old crones gawking from the crest to the east. After an hour and a half in the heat-radiating couloir, alder trees appear and bring longed-for shade.” The overall narrative isn’t quite as dramatic as the mountains through which it weaves, nor is Corsica so wild that there isn’t always a good meal and a picturesque village within a few pages. Still, Bohr shows herself to be a natural storyteller, and her diaristic account is appealingly escapist. It’s a poetic reminder of the trails still left to tread, regardless of one’s age. Like all great travelogues, it will have readers itching to travel somewhere remote and outside their comfort zones.

A poignant and immersive remembrance set on one of Europe’s greatest hiking trails.

Kirkus Reviews