Past and present converge as Linda Cracknell doubles back to walk in the footsteps of others. Across Norway, Kenya, and the northerly islands of Skye in Scotland and Lindisfarne in England , Doubling Back traces the contours of history. Following paths long mythologized by writers and relatives gone before, Linda Cracknell charts how places immortalized in writing and memory create portals; wrinkles in time and geography that allow us to recreate journeys of others moving at a slow and steady pace, on foot. Join Linda as she traverses the dangerous crevasses of the Swiss Alps to retrace the mountaineering past of the father she barely knew. Walk with her as she follows the escape route of a Norwegian scientist on the run in the Second World War, or as she simply celebrates the joy found in the 'friendly paths' of her local, regular terrain, and the rhythms and ritual of returning home. Published in the UK to rave reviews and serialized on BBC radio, this beautifully rendered account of walking and memory helps us to locate ourselves in time and space and to reflect on our future on this fragile Earth. “Cracknell wonderfully explores the strange durability of the paths that we make in our lives, in our dreams and after our deaths.” Robert Macfarlane, author of  Underland  and  The Old Ways “A poignant and passionate memoir … a heartfelt exploration of the mental and physical landscapes that shape our lives.” Gavin Francis, author of  Adventures in Human Being “Not so much a book to inspire you to do her walks, but to challenge you to enjoy your own walks more. Refreshing, lovely, fun: good walking and good writing.” Sara Maitland, author of  From the Forest  and  A Book of Silence “A winning combination of memoir, travelogue and literary meditation.”  Daily Mail “An object lesson in attentive looking … wonderfully intense.” Scotsman “There is not a step taken in this book that does not engage the writer, and so the reader. To walk with Linda Cracknell is to explore landscape and memory … It is to be enriched by the compulsions of a lifetime.” Tom Pow, poet Linda Cracknell is a writer of narrative nonfiction on the natural world, as well as of fiction and radio scripts, and the author of Writing Landscape (Saraband, 2023). Landscape, place, nature, and memory are key themes in her work. Her first story collection was nominated for Scotland’s National Book Awards and the Robin Jenkins Literary Award for environmental writing. She teaches nature and place writing as well as creative fiction writing, often through the medium of outdoor or residential workshops and courses. Saunters Château de Lavigny, Switzerland, August 2012   The desk at the window of my room overlooks the orderly lawns of the Château. Hibiscus is flowering on the veranda and roses are trained over arches. A few kilometres below, Lác Leman shimmers, and beyond it rises the hazy outline of the Alps. A huge plane tree flapped its leaves close to my window throughout last night, played into tunes by the wind and rain. I arrived three days ago to a heat-wave but thunderstorms are beginning to fracture it now; the air is cooled by rain and then rises up yet more steamily when the sun returns. I’m here on a writing retreat, and each day for a month is my own. Already I have established rituals. I like to be first to the kitchen, to collect the fresh loaves left hanging on the little side-door which opens onto the village street. After a glass of orange juice, I put on my shoes and slip into the garden, past the lavender bushes fussed over by small white butterflies and scrambling with bees. At the bottom of the sloping lawn, a wicket gate opens into the wider world. At first the way is familiar. There’s a grassy avenue between a field of sunflowers to my left, each swinging heavy heads in the same direction, and rows of glossy vines to my right. Soon though, I’ll break new ground, perhaps venturing into the wooded slopes of the Aubonne valley to find out where a set of steps go that lead intriguingly upwards. Greeting the day like this I walk the restlessness out of my body and wake up to my work. But my morning walks here are also about exploring. It’s as if the Château is laced into place by small lanes, tracks and paths between farms and villages. I need to get to know them, to fill in the detail of my circle a little more each day. There are places to go back to, perhaps to sit and draw, or just for the pleasure of returning. By walking an hour each morning, I plant myself here. My internal monologue and a tiny hand-stitched notebook always accompany me. There may be chatter or observations I need to note down, a new story idea, or solutions to my writing problems. It’s as if I think better on the move, think more creatively, or as Jean-Jacques Rousseau would have it, ‘my mind only works with my legs’. Slow but alert. Attentive to both inner and outer landscapes. Later, each walk will become a journal entry and a sketch map. *