Not all who wander are lost. — J.R.R. Tolkien
It’s a sentiment as old as storytelling itself. Sometimes, a person needs to go on a grand journey to discover who they really are.
There’s something about leaving home — leaving what’s known and comfortable — that makes a person reflective and more open to change. New sights, new people, new cultures, new challenges. These new experiences have a way of helping a person reevaluate their lives — and reemerge as someone new.
It’s hard to narrow down the vast number of stories containing this theme, but I tried my best to curate a varied list of nine books featuring protagonists that may wander, but are never lost.
The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck
Best known for his “realistic and imaginative writings” and “keen social perception” — such as in his critically acclaimed The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men — this Nobel Prize-winning author brings to life an imaginative character-driven tale where a group of strangers embark on a life-changing journey down the California coast. Juan and his bus “Sweetheart” set out from the fictional town of Rebel Corners to Mexico, traveling through backroads as they transport an assortment of characters. The bus ferries the lost and the lonely, the good and the greedy, the stupid and the scheming, the beautiful and the vicious away from their shattered dreams and, possibly, toward the promise of the future.
Nine Days in Rome by Julian Gould
Atticus Winterle, a recently laid-off senior executive, finds himself tackling a different kind of workload as he takes on the job of chaperoning 16 unruly high school students and their three teachers around Rome, Italy. Atticus must call forth all his people skills and knowledge of local resources to keep the kids and teachers on track and out of trouble — to the extent possible. But he soon realizes, in his efforts to keep things from falling apart, he finds the teenagers and adults — including himself — growing closer. Atticus is stretched and challenged beyond his initial expectations as issues of addiction and mental health surface among the group. But romance will also bloom on their journey through the Eternal City. (Check out the BookTrib review here.)
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Phoebe Stone arrives in Newport, Rhode Island with a plan. She’s finally fulfilling her dream of visiting the grand Cornwall Inn, where for years she’d hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband. But now she arrives alone, at rock bottom but determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. When she arrives though, she’s quickly mistaken by everyone in the lobby as one of the guests for an upcoming wedding. The bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield — except for Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan. This absurdly funny and devastatingly tender novel looks at the winding paths we take to places we never imagined ― and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.
Less by Andrew Sean Greer
This bittersweet romance and brilliant satire follows Arthur Less, a failed novelist who’s about to turn 50 and just received an invitation to his ex’s wedding. What does he do to avoid accepting or rejecting the invite? He accepts a series of half-baked literary event invitations that are piled on his desk. Every. Single. One. What could go wrong? His whirlwind adventure around the globe takes him to Paris (where he almost falls in love), to Berlin (where he almost falls to his death), and to a desert island in the Arabian Sea — where he encounters the last person on Earth he wants to face. Somewhere in there: he turns fifty. Through it all, there’s his first love — and there’s his last.
The Wild Road Home by Melissa Payne
With his wife fading from Alzheimer’s, Mack Anders fakes his death for the insurance money that will keep her cared for and comfortable for the rest of her life. Now, he passes his time off the grid in his cabin, alone in the Wyoming wilderness — until Brandi and Sy show up. Freshly released from juvie, 18-year-old Brandi risked it all to save her younger brother Sy from an unstable home. On the run toward their aunt’s house, a flat tire leaves them stranded — and soon leads them to Mack. This quiet stranger may be their only hope of reaching safety — but to help them, Mack will have to come back to life in ways he never imagined. (Check out the BookTrib review here.)
Touch by Olaf Olafsson
As the pandemic hits and threatens to shut everything down, one man sets out on a mission of lost love that will take him across the globe, from London to Japan. Now a major motion picture, Touch follows Kristofer as his life seemingly begins to fall apart — his successful restaurant shuttered amidst the virus, his memory slowly failing him. Then he receives a message from Miko, the woman he’d known in the 60s who disappeared suddenly. Both inspired and rattled by her sudden communication, Kristofer sets out to find the woman whose love left a mark on his life — and to find answers to her disappearance.
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Everything about Ginny Blackstone will change this summer… and it all began with a little blue envelope from her late Aunt Peg. The letter included $1000 cash for a passport and a plane ticket, and instructions for how to retrieve twelve other letters Peg wrote — twelve letters that tell Ginny where she needs to go and what she needs to do when she gets there. Backpacking across Europe — from London to Edinburgh to Amsterdam and beyond — Ginny begins to uncover stories from her aunt’s past and discover who Peg really was. But the most surprising thing Ginny learns isn’t about Peg… it’s about herself.
A Northern Light in Provence by Elizabeth Birkelund
Isolated and restless in her quiet home on the west coast of Greenland, translator Ilse Erlund convinces her publisher to pay for the trip of a lifetime. Tasked with translating the work of charismatic poet Geoffrey “Po” Labaye, Ilse sets out for the country of her dreams: France. Upon arrival in the medieval hilltop village of Belle Rivière, Ilse falls under the spell of the Provençal way of life — and is soon captivated by the poet himself. She and Po develop a daily rhythm and warm camaraderie, but everything changes when his son, Frey, arrives. Forced to choose between the security of her quiet northern home and the possibility of the life of her dreams, where — and with whom — does Ilse’s future lie? (Check out BookTrib’s author interview here.)
The Silence in the Sound by Dianne C Braley
Life has not been kind to Georgette. Growing up with an alcoholic father and an enabling mother, she clings to the loving memory of a childhood trip to Martha’s Vineyard to help see her through the bad times. Now, as an adult, she returns to the island to start her life over. After befriending the prize-winning novelist she works for, Georgette’s mind begins to open to new possibilities. But everything changes when she meets Dock. Mysterious yet irresistible, Georgette quickly loses herself in their new relationship — despite the dangers that come with him. Now, Georgette must decide between her future or spiraling into a past she can’t seem to escape.
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