What do you think?
Rate this book
Starting Out In the Afternoon: A Mid-Life Journey into Wild Land
Jill Frayne’s long-term relationship was ending and her daughter was about to graduate and leave home. She decided to pack up her life and head for the Yukon.
Driving alone across the country from her home just north of Toronto, describing the land as it changes from Precambrian Shield to open prairie, Jill finds that solitude in the wilds is not what she expected. She is actively engaged by nature, her moods reflected in the changing landscape and weather. Camping in her tent as she travels, she begins to let go of the world she’s leaving and to enter the realm of the solitary traveller. The wilderness begins to work its magic on her, and she begins to feel a bond with the land and a kind of serenity.
In Starting Out in the Afternoon , Frayne struggles to come to terms with her vulnerabilities and begins to find peace. In beautifully spare but potent language, she delivers an inspiring, contemplative memoir of the middle passage of a woman’s life and an eloquent meditation on the solace of living close to the wild land. Eventually what has begun as a three-month trip becomes a personal journey of several years, during which she is on the move and testing herself in the wilderness. She conquers her fears and begins a new relationship with nature, exuberant at becoming a competent outdoorswoman.
Driving alone across the country from her home just north of Toronto, describing the land as it changes from Precambrian Shield to open prairie, Jill finds that solitude in the wilds is not what she expected. She is actively engaged by nature, her moods reflected in the changing landscape and weather. Camping in her tent as she travels, she begins to let go of the world she’s leaving and to enter the realm of the solitary traveller. The wilderness begins to work its magic on her, and she begins to feel a bond with the land and a kind of serenity.
In Starting Out in the Afternoon , Frayne struggles to come to terms with her vulnerabilities and begins to find peace. In beautifully spare but potent language, she delivers an inspiring, contemplative memoir of the middle passage of a woman’s life and an eloquent meditation on the solace of living close to the wild land. Eventually what has begun as a three-month trip becomes a personal journey of several years, during which she is on the move and testing herself in the wilderness. She conquers her fears and begins a new relationship with nature, exuberant at becoming a competent outdoorswoman.
247 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2002
4 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 10, 2010
Best landscape descriptive writing I think I have ever found. Jill is very open in relaying her feelings and emotions. The two blended together perfectly. I wish I had read this one while camping instead of during a snow storm because I got the itch to be outside!
March 4, 2015
Written well before Wild by Cheryl Strayed and reflecting a different trip/journey altogether. Frayne is middle aged on subsequent and frequent trips to Atlin in BC and to the Yukon. Strayed was a very young woman searching for herself. So is Frayne but in a different way and mindset. The wilderness of the BC interior is so breathtaking and peaceful and Frayne's imagery so makes you want to be there right now. Poetic at times, some dialogue but mostly she shows us what she sees and experiences and it is heavenly. I forgave her the preachy bits about 'us' ruining the environment...the canoe trip to cap off the book at the top of Superior was fantastic. She brings us full circle from Ontario to BC and back to our own wilderness here and what life thrills she has gleaned from it all. A very good book.
July 5, 2022
Would have been better without all the personal reflections and too much information! And I was annoyed when she talked about staying at the campground at Lakelse Lake, just outside Terrace, BC (where I live) and never even mentioned Terrace (she had to drive through it to get to the lake)! She described it as “east of Prince Rupert”. Much as I thought I would enjoy this book, it was a little too narcissistic and less of a travel narrative than I expected.
June 13, 2013
Frayne has an eye for landscape and natural surroundings that draws you in and makes you walk the trail with her. Her physical trek leads her into a soul searching voyage where she finds acceptance for her own need for solitude and reflection.
April 1, 2009
Disappointing read. Plodding prose. The author is a therapist who writes of her journey in nature. The last straw for me was when she casually mentioned that she bedded down for the night with a ripping, violent, alcoholic at a camping area and then yearned for him. Wow! This therapist is in desperate need of a therapist post-haste!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2019
This book is a book of extremes for me. There were things loved, and things I definitely didn’t love about it.
The things I loved: her descriptions of the landscape, some of her musings on relationships and aging. Things I definitely didn’t love: a lot of the things she said about being a mom, some of her views on love, and generally, her worldview/voice at times.
Her wilderness descriptions were just beautiful, never boring as I sometimes find some writers descriptive work to be. She has a real eye for nature and her love of nature is genuine and evident in her writing.
I would say this boook has had a big impact on me by inspiring me to find courage and be true to my love of outdoors, even if my outdoors woman status looks a little bit different than what you might see in a magazine.
The things I loved: her descriptions of the landscape, some of her musings on relationships and aging. Things I definitely didn’t love: a lot of the things she said about being a mom, some of her views on love, and generally, her worldview/voice at times.
Her wilderness descriptions were just beautiful, never boring as I sometimes find some writers descriptive work to be. She has a real eye for nature and her love of nature is genuine and evident in her writing.
I would say this boook has had a big impact on me by inspiring me to find courage and be true to my love of outdoors, even if my outdoors woman status looks a little bit different than what you might see in a magazine.
September 26, 2018
Frayne is a vulnerable, observant guide, both to a major life transition many of us experience and also to the awe-inspiring landscape through which she travels. I'm a fan of books like this so couldn't help comparing it to my favourites. It is less raw than some, more literary than others. Two comparisons that come to mind are Greta Ehrlich's The Solace of Open Spaces and Sharon Butala's The Perfection of the Morning, both on my favourites list. Frayne is honest about her expectations as she sets out on the journey. And she is honest about not meeting them. In between she takes the reader on an adventure that makes this book a memoir standout.
December 30, 2023
I appreciated the descriptions of the landscape she gave especially since I have been to those places. However, I could not appreciate her style of writing. I did not feel like my attention was held however I do plan on reading another book of hers as I am willing to give her writing another try. But in the end, I would not recommend this book. I think there are plenty of other titles out there one can read about the places she fell in love with as well as about getting older as a woman.
April 26, 2019
Frayne's writing is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could write this descriptive prose of what I see and love in nature. It's also timely that I found this memoir in a Little Library box as I continue in my fifth nomadic year of solo travel. Relevant and meaningful to me.
May 25, 2021
I am in the process of reading this book. I find it fascinating for this woman to travel alone across the country. The descriptions of the countryside are bang on what I remember of a trip across country many years ago and not alone. I am enjoying the trip with her.
May 16, 2017
Made me think a lot about who I am and what I like to do and how brave I could be
October 15, 2019
So enjoyable I would give this six stars if I could.
February 6, 2024
DNF. A generous 2.5 due to description of scenery but I couldn’t deal with the vocabulary and description of everything else.
March 28, 2015
We all experience critical moments in our life that compel us to pick up a challenge and adapt to the new circumstances life presents. Jill Frayne was at such a point. Her daughter Bree was graduating from high school and her relationship with her long time partner Leon seemed to be fracturing. In a moment of high suggestibility while listening to a radio interview, she became excited by the idea of an extended outdoor camping trip to the Yukon. So she made plans, took a leave from work, tied up her domestic responsibilities with Leon and started out. She even booked a kayak adventure in this three month excursion, despite the fact she had never once paddled a kayak.
After dropping her daughter off in Toronto she heads west by car, her life in Ontario gradually receding in the background as she takes in her new surroundings. She recounts her incredible kayak trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii), a trip during which she was both physically and mentally challenged by the people and the land itself. She then proceeds as far as Whitehorse, her “turning around point” after which she heads home.
The trip provides the solitude she needs for self reflection, the liberty to be her own company and the “queen of all her choices”. She discovers that the land itself has a profound effect on her as she experiences a protracted uninterrupted encounter with the outdoors. At times it overpowers her, but she also begins to think differently about it. Like the Inuit, she begins to think of herself as part of the landscape rather than separate from it, recognizing that all living and nonliving things are just compounds of the same things arranged in different ways. It teaches her a different concept of the land and its relationship with human beings, who now no longer appear separate. She begins to see herself as simply a part of a landscape that is continual changing, coming and going. This realization provides her with a different concept of death, which she now no longer fears. There is no loss.
After her trip and back in Ontario, she moves into a home on a bush lot at the northern end of Algonquin Park. Life is simple and she has few comforts but she is happy. In the years following her initial trip, she has visited the north regularly, but has resisted the urge to buy. Instead she has settled herself in the northern community of Atlin, her current refuge.
When she is buried in her life at her Ontario home, she pines to be back in the North. It is a place in which she finds her consciousness awakened rather than shut down as it is when she experiences life in the city. There her busy life directs her and determines where her attention is pulled. In Atlin, she can rest, reflect and sort through her life, considering it, trying to understand and manage it.
Some describe Frayne’s writing as “navel gazing”, but I quite disagree. To me she appears to be a brave woman who has tackled many physically demanding challenges, a woman who is honestly trying to understand her life and is not afraid to admit her mistakes and shortcomings.
As the daughter of two well known writers, (her Mother was June Callwood and her Father was Trent Frayne), she has grown up in a home where she was taught to respect words and love books. Although she describes herself as inarticulate, she has been able to pull together wonderful descriptions of the overpowering northern landscape with its rugged mountains, mammoth trees and powerful seas.
The only time I was suspended in disbelief during her journey was the description of her time with Bill, a man who seemed so out of character to be in a close relationship with the woman I was getting to know. That was to be quite honest, was a bit of a jolt.
Altogether, an enjoyable read.
After dropping her daughter off in Toronto she heads west by car, her life in Ontario gradually receding in the background as she takes in her new surroundings. She recounts her incredible kayak trip in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii), a trip during which she was both physically and mentally challenged by the people and the land itself. She then proceeds as far as Whitehorse, her “turning around point” after which she heads home.
The trip provides the solitude she needs for self reflection, the liberty to be her own company and the “queen of all her choices”. She discovers that the land itself has a profound effect on her as she experiences a protracted uninterrupted encounter with the outdoors. At times it overpowers her, but she also begins to think differently about it. Like the Inuit, she begins to think of herself as part of the landscape rather than separate from it, recognizing that all living and nonliving things are just compounds of the same things arranged in different ways. It teaches her a different concept of the land and its relationship with human beings, who now no longer appear separate. She begins to see herself as simply a part of a landscape that is continual changing, coming and going. This realization provides her with a different concept of death, which she now no longer fears. There is no loss.
After her trip and back in Ontario, she moves into a home on a bush lot at the northern end of Algonquin Park. Life is simple and she has few comforts but she is happy. In the years following her initial trip, she has visited the north regularly, but has resisted the urge to buy. Instead she has settled herself in the northern community of Atlin, her current refuge.
When she is buried in her life at her Ontario home, she pines to be back in the North. It is a place in which she finds her consciousness awakened rather than shut down as it is when she experiences life in the city. There her busy life directs her and determines where her attention is pulled. In Atlin, she can rest, reflect and sort through her life, considering it, trying to understand and manage it.
Some describe Frayne’s writing as “navel gazing”, but I quite disagree. To me she appears to be a brave woman who has tackled many physically demanding challenges, a woman who is honestly trying to understand her life and is not afraid to admit her mistakes and shortcomings.
As the daughter of two well known writers, (her Mother was June Callwood and her Father was Trent Frayne), she has grown up in a home where she was taught to respect words and love books. Although she describes herself as inarticulate, she has been able to pull together wonderful descriptions of the overpowering northern landscape with its rugged mountains, mammoth trees and powerful seas.
The only time I was suspended in disbelief during her journey was the description of her time with Bill, a man who seemed so out of character to be in a close relationship with the woman I was getting to know. That was to be quite honest, was a bit of a jolt.
Altogether, an enjoyable read.
June 13, 2013
It was an ok read. STory about how Jill takes a trip to the wild lands of Canada and that she keeps going back after it is over. I liked paddle to the Arctic better.
Still, as I am also starting, or about to start my 'mid- afternoon' years, she tells me that I don't have to settle for the same-old, same-old. I can dream and plan and go for it. Altho I don't have the cash she has, and i'm still raising a daughter. Not that either of those facts have ever stopped me before. We took our son Tom along with us on trips- day trips, overnighters to museums and even to Europe. I don't need, or want, to do it alone like Jill does. I'm happy to have my little family around with me, to enjoy it with me. Altho, I do go off on my own when I get in a museum :P
Still, as I am also starting, or about to start my 'mid- afternoon' years, she tells me that I don't have to settle for the same-old, same-old. I can dream and plan and go for it. Altho I don't have the cash she has, and i'm still raising a daughter. Not that either of those facts have ever stopped me before. We took our son Tom along with us on trips- day trips, overnighters to museums and even to Europe. I don't need, or want, to do it alone like Jill does. I'm happy to have my little family around with me, to enjoy it with me. Altho, I do go off on my own when I get in a museum :P
Read
July 30, 2013Jill Frayne "conquers her fears and begins a new relationship with nature, exuberant at becoming a competent outdoorswoman." (VPL item description)
"Despite a late start I expect to spend the rest of my life dashing off the highway, pursuing this know-how, plumbing the outdoors side of life." From the Trade Paperback edition.
"Despite a late start I expect to spend the rest of my life dashing off the highway, pursuing this know-how, plumbing the outdoors side of life." From the Trade Paperback edition.
November 11, 2013
Loved it. It was like reading poetry. Frayne is an incredibly talented writing…her descriptions of the north bring the novel to life. She is very skilled, and I would love to read more of her work. Also, she reminds me of my solo camping experiences, and she really nails some of the experiences. Great topic and I really loved it!
March 12, 2013
My 2nd time reading this...I like the idea of what she did. I'd love to go wilderness trekking but I still would like to go with another person...not alone. I do feel with her the sense of "freedom" she must have experienced on some of her lonely treks...perhaps one day:)
August 31, 2014
I need to start this again when I'm in a better frame of mind.
September 26, 2013
This book was just ok. I was mesmerized by the book Wild which is a much better version of the 'finding yourself' through solo travel genre.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews