Doubling Back

Doubling Back is a fascinating and moving account of walking in the footsteps of others. In 1952 Linda Cracknell's father embarked on a hike through the Swiss Alps. Fifty years later Linda retraces that fateful journey, following the trail of the man she barely knew. This collection of walking tales takes its theme from that pilgrimage. The walks trace the contours of history, following writers, relations and retreading ways across mountains, valleys and coasts formerly trodden by drovers, saints and adventurers. Each walk is about the reaffirming of memories, beliefs and emotions, and especially of the connection that one can have with the past through particular places. This book celebrates life, family, friendship and walking through landscapes richly textured with stories.

Doubling Back is a masterwork of travel writing in the vein of Robert Macfarlane and Roger Deakin, lyrical, poignant, and with stunning descriptions of the landscapes Linda Cracknell leads us through.

Linda Cracknell won the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday short story competition, and was shortlisted for the Scottish First Book Award for her story collection Life Drawing (Neil Wilson Publishing, 2000) and the Robin Jenkins Literary Award for an early draft of this book. Her second story collection A Searching Glance was published by Salt in 2008. Her debut novel Call of the Undertow was published to great acclaim in 2013, and a novella, The Other Side of Stone with Taproot Press, followed in March 2021. www.lindacracknell.com