Walking Home

by Arleen Williams

Seattle is a long way from the Horn of Africa. Despite escaping his country’s violence, Kidane is never too far from the nightmares and despair of his past. A new country, a new hope, and a new love may not be enough to save him. Only when he is able to face his worst fears can he have any hope of being truly free.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2015

About the author

Arleen Williams is a Seattle novelist, memoirist, and co-author of a dozen short books in easy English for adults. She teaches English as a Second Language at South Seattle College and has worked with immigrants and refugees for over three decades. To learn more, please visit www.arleenwilliams.com and www.notalkingdogspress.com.

Reviews

[Bradley Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story that is close to my heart, for a number of reasons. The story takes place around the lives of two immigrants to the pacific northwest from Eritrea / Ethiopia. One is Moslem, the other, Christian. They both find themselves at a crossroads in their new lives in Seattle separately and together. The richness of the descriptions of their homelands, their tragedies, and their lost families is complex, beautiful, and sad. Despite these losses, they look positively to the futures that they have created and are creating in this new, completely foreign frontier. I love the history in this book, as the African region that our key characters hail from is one of the oldest in the world. And how Gemi & Kidane look at and embrace the new worlds that they find themselves in just keeps you wanting to continually get back to their lives! This is a world class read, and I am anticipating many more fine books by Arleen Williams. Easily, five stars!

[Pamela Beason · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's never easy to make a new life in an unfamiliar country or to overcome tragedies of the past. This book brings together strong characters from multiple countries who accept and support each other, and new families are formed by their bonds of love.

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An exceptional book, with deeply affecting characters. Basically starting life over again in Seattle, Kidane's story will stay with you for a long time after reading this inspirational, sophisticated novel. Highly recommended.

[Stacia Chappell]

I rate this book 5 stars: the cover is excellent : for what is in the book: can not give details away but every one should read this book :

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in Aileen William’s Alki trilogy re-visits some of the characters from the earlier novels, and explores the same themes of immigration. In this tale we meet Kidane from Eritrea and learn of the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Kidane is now in Seattle hoping to make a new life with Talisha, who is African-American, and we find out that prejudice isn’t just from whites against blacks, but that black immigrants from Africa are looked down upon by African-Americans, and often suffer violence at their hands. Once again, the novel is dialogue-heavy, with reliance on dialogue to explain backstories and movie the narrative forwards, and this feels rather forced and unnatural, detracting from my enjoyment. However, it’s an interesting story, well-told, if a little melodramatic at times, and shows another aspect of the immigrant experience.

[Lesley Korna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book of the Alki Trilogy and I loved it as much as the first two, if not more. The characters are strong and so relatable that I feel every emotion of all the characters, especially Gemi and Kidane. Arleen Williams has given us three wonderful novels and I hope she continues to write more along the same lines. I am sad to say goodbye to this cast of characters. Please give us more!!

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am writing this review years after reading this book, third in the Alki trilogy. (I thought I'd written one before--but had only given my stars.) A review written long after the reading shows someone unfamiliar with the book or the author how Arleen Williams's stories take hold and stay. The feeling of the characters finding their places/paths/relationships/homes sticks with me. Although many of the characters that people this novel Williams introduced in the prior novels of the trilogy, "Running Secrets" and "Biking Uphill," like them, this novel also works as a stand-alone. Williams knows the Seattle area, this corner of the Pacific northwest, unfamiliar to her immigrant protagonists. She gives her characters these credible locations in which to move around and their sometimes harrowing backgrounds (some are fictionalized amalgams of stories heard from ESL students, endowing them with great authenticity). She gives them ordinary and extraordinary situations to puzzle through. She gives her readers compelling reads. If you start with this book, make sure to pick up the other two in the trilogy.

[Arleen Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

From back cover:

Walking Home is one of those rare books that takes the distant and complex world and makes it feel intimate and absolutely authentic ... Kidane and Gemi's stories will haunt me for a long time.
-- Mary Helen Specht, Migratory Animals

Inevitably, our lives are shaped by our losses. But in this book of cross-cultural friendship and love, of deep and ever-deepening family ties, damaged people find redemption, the strength to overcome their losses, and the will to triumph. The tender conclusion is magical.
-- Will North, The Long Walk Home

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I completely enjoyed this book. The only major issue that comes to mind is the editing. I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're an avid reader, you know well the thrill of stumbling upon a book that resonates with you so powerfully you just can't put it down. When it ends, there is a feeling of sadness and a longing for more. That is how I felt when I first discovered the Alki Trilogy by Arleen Williams. It started with Running Secrets, the story of a young woman hurtling toward self destruction before meeting Gemi Kemmal, a healthcare provider and survivor of the horrific political and civil clashes in Ethiopia.
Gemi is the binding thread in each of the books in the trilogy, which continues with Biking Uphill, and culminates with Walking Home, a beautiful and very true-to-life story of an Eritrean refugee called Kidane seeking to build a new life in Seattle. Sadly, in spite of Kidane's best efforts, he remains plagued with nightmares and flashbacks from his own struggles in the Horn of Africa, until he, too, meets Gemi. This time, the caregiver becomes the care receiver at the heart of a tale that brings each character from the trilogy together in beautiful fashion.
What I appreciate most about Walking Home, Biking Uphill, and Running Secrets, is that each of the characters are so believable. So real. So many authors choose to make their characters human, but still somehow detached from reality. Williams doesn't. Instead, each of her characters, from Kidane and Gemi, to Talisha, Kidane's future wife, and their growing circle of friends, is so true one half expects to visit the Alki area and run into them.
Also unlike other novels of the genre, or similar genres, the drama the characters face is also believable, and therefore makes it easy for readers to identify with in some way. I found myself in Chris, the main protagonist of Running Secrets, right away, but also saw glimpses of me in others in the trilogy as well.
What I especially appreciate is that each of the books is so compelling, you'll want to read them again, and because of Williams's flowing style - not too lofty and not too simplistic - you can, and will discover something new when you do. But I caution you, there are moments in these books, particularly Walking Home, that will leave you breathless and stunned. There is a plot twist so unimaginable in Walking Home it spins the head. But do continue reading until the end or you'll miss an amazing finale.
I truly hope that Williams continues to gift readers with more stories with rich, multifaceted characters, stunning backdrops (if Alki Beach is real, I MUST visit!!), and stories that leave readers feeling a sense of "yes!" after the last page. Williams is a gifted writer and storyteller, and the Alki Trilogy proves it.