Girl in the Woods: A Memoir - Softcover

Matis, Aspen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062390619 ISBN 13: 9780062390615

Publisher: William Morrow, 2015

Synopsis

Not since Alice Sebold's Lucky and Cheryl Strayed's Wild has a young woman written such a searing, yet hopeful story of survial in the wake of a horrific trauma and finding acceptance, hope, and healing in nature Girl in the Woods is Aspen Matis' exhilarating true-life adventure of hiking from Mexico to Canada -- a coming of age story, a survival story, a love story, and a triumphant story of overcoming emotional devastation. On her second night of college, Aspen Matis was raped by a fellow freshman. Vigilantly sheltered by her parents who discouraged her from telling people of the attack, Aspen was confused and ashamed. Dealing with a problem that has sadly become all too common on college campuses around the country, she stumbled through her first semester a challenging time made more difficult by the incompetence and coldness of her college s judicial process. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: She would seek healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada. In this grippingly honest, inspiring memoir, Aspen traces her journey, a five-month trek that was ambitious, dangerous, and transformative. A novice hiker alone and isolated, at times on the verge of starvation and pushing herself as never before, she was forced to confront her darkest demons, coming to terms with her sexual assault as well as her overly protected upbringing. Along the way she braves the hazards of the trail head on, learning invaluable lessons about hope and self-reliance, as she realizes the true meaning of the word survivor. From communing with fellow desert pilgrims to hiking desolate mountain passes to meeting a man who ultimately helps her learn to love and to trust again, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully-rendered story of eroding emotional and physical boundaries to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.

About this title

Review:

-Matis writes with a rawness that refuses to hold back...filled with small moments of awe...I was struck by how far she had come...she seemed years more mature than the young woman at the start of the journey. Girl in the Woods is a touching memoir that...unleashes clarity.---Ms. magazine

From the Back Cover:

In 2008, Aspen Matis left behind her quaint Massachusetts town for a school two thousand miles away. Eager to escape her childhood as the sheltered baby girl of her family, Aspen wanted to reinvent herself at college. She hoped that far from home she'd meet friends who hadn't known her high school meekness; she would explore thrilling newfound freedom, blossom, and become a confident adult. But on her second night on campus, all those hopes were obliterated when Aspen was raped by a fellow student.

The academic year commenced; Aspen felt alone now, devastated. She stumbled through her first college semester. Her otherwise loving and supportive parents discouraged her from speaking of the attack; her university's "conflict mediation" process for handling sexual assaults was callous—then ineffectual. Aspen was confused, ashamed, and uncertain about how to deal with a problem that has—disturbingly—become common at institutions of higher learning throughout the country. Her desperation growing, she made a bold decision: she fled. She dropped out and sought healing in the freedom of the wild, on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail leading from Mexico to Canada.

In this important and inspiring memoir, Aspen chronicles an ambitious five-month trek that was as dangerous as it was transformative. Forced to survive on her own for the first time, squarely facing her trauma and childhood, she came to realize that the rape was not the only shameful burden she carried with her as she walked. She found herself on a new expedition: to confront—and overcome—the confines that had bound her since long before her second night at college.

A nineteen-year-old girl alone and adrift, Aspen conquered desolate mountain passes and met rattlesnakes, bears, and fellow desert pilgrims. Among the snowcaps and the forests of America's West, she found the confidence that had eluded her all her life. After a thousand miles of solitude, she met a man who helped her learn to love, trust, and heal. Then from the endless woods she blazed a new path to the future she wanted—and reclaimed it.

What emerges is an unflinching portrait of a girl in the aftermath of rape. Told with elegance and suspense, Girl in the Woods is a beautifully rendered story of emotional and physical boundaries eroding to reveal the truths that lie beyond the edges of the map.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0062390619
• ISBN 13: 9780062390615
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240