Where the Strange Roads Go Down

By Mary Del Villar and Fred Del Villar

" Strange Roads is a small gem of travel literature in the tradition of works by John Van Dyke, Carl Lumholtz, Charles Lummus, Mary Austin, Edward Hoagland, and Bruce Chatwin. But for all its absorbing detail about topography, flora, and fauna, its keen observations of character, and its vivid re-creation of the sense of place, it is much more than a travel memoir. For on every page one senses the strength, character, and distinctive perspective of Mary del Villar herself. An uncommon woman by any standards, she seems all the more remarkable when one recalls the profoundly reactionary gender ideologies that prevailed in the postwar era in which she lived and wrote. Like other great female wanderers, she transcended the confining notions of woman her society would have imposed on her, living her life according to the dictates of her own intrepid spirit." - From the foreword by Susan Hardy Aiken

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816535736
• ISBN13: 9780816535736
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 264 Pages

Customer Reviews

You Are With Them

I was recently given this book and read it while on a trip to Mexico. This book was written in 1952, published in 1953. Not only is their adventure simply amazing for two "not real young" people, I calculated 30 for Mary and probably early 40s for Fred, who were from New York City (Brooklyn) and they said their longest walk was to the library. In this adventure, they take off on a 750 mile trek through unforgiving land. But, their meeting with so many kind strangers who helped them, their avoidance of any serious injury, or meeting up with a cougar or bear, were real positives. You will be right there with them as you read; Mary, a freelance writer at the time, did a fine job as the main writer, as Fred points out in the prologue. She died 2/23/1999; Fred died a few years earlier. She remarried a Howard Porter who passed a way in 1992. Mary went back to school and got a doctorate in English and taught at the University of Arizona. She lived her last years with her daughter Jane, who was conceived on the road in 1952. This is more than a travelogue, it is high adventure. Join Fred and Mary, read this book! I would have loved to know them. Phil Baldwin, Jr. Colorado Springs, CO