To Walk in the World: Twin Tales of Inception

Unpacking life’s chaos and circles isn’t always a choice.

Before breaking, she considered the edge of normal an ideal — cluttered with the screw-ups who couldn't handle life. Now she’s engaged in a bonkers conversation with her heart and mind as she and her mental miscreants scrabble through a facetious struggle to figure out life after loss. She soon discovers leaping from ‘normal’s cliff’ is a sloppy free-fall of rebirth loaded with cosmic oddities and ludicrous miscues. Standing on her edge, she wonders whether living beyond the boundaries is worth the cost of stepping off the abyss into the unknown. She’s about to find out. Discover what happens in this unique, insightful story about when your mind breaks and you have to learn the true meaning of living.

Author's note: When my fingers first hit the keyboard in late 2017 I had no idea the adventure ahead. This book morphed into a love letter to my mother, to myself, and to woman everywhere, ones who examined their lives and said: "I can be more. In fact, I'm called to change, and I have to answer."

REVIEWS:

What a fantastic piece of work. This is the first book I have read by Winnie Winkle, and it certainly won't be the last. Beautifully written, not a single word wasted, and I honestly don't think I have ever experienced a book about grief as fully enveloping as this was for me. The storytelling and characterizations are wonderful and you will be engrossed from the first page. The devastation of losing a mother is a huge point in life. I understand. 26 years have passed and I still feel her loss as if it was yesterday. Winkle's words took hold of my sensitive and emotional heart, squeezed it tight with gentleness and wisdom, and opened me up to the joy of living. The best books are those written by someone with that particular experience, and this is a BEST book spiritually and emotionally. - BookBub review @rayandkaysmillie

The truth is that if we choose to be vulnerable and allow others in, much less love others, we will experience pain. Especially when someone we love dearly dies. Winkle has written a must-read for anyone, particularly women who have experienced a profound loss. Writing about the loss of her mother does not limit the power of this novel to those experiencing the same loss, for Winkle makes it clear that loss is loss. How does one move from the shock and pain to a life lived normally?

This is at once a deeply spiritual read and a psychological journey into grief. How can the world around you keep moving as usual when you feel like you are stuck, standing still, gasping for some relief from the hollowness inside? Follow Winkle as she examines life and what makes it worth living. The book is beautifully written as two different stories that begin the transformation that must occur to overcome the devastation of loss so that joy can take hold in its purest form.

I found this book to be truly soul-stretching and on point given the last year with losing a family member and so many friends and acquaintances to COVID. I am thankful that I found this at such a low point in my life for it gave me a huge boost back into joy and happiness. This is definitely the best novel dealing with grief I have ever read. - Book Blogger JuliaPicks1