Brenn Campbell
Carrie Evans’s Vagabond Soul complements her first memoir The Fun We Had, diving deeper into the emotional and sensual undercurrents of a life she has lived across the continents. With the same breezy candour and vivid storytelling that made her first memoir so engaging, Carrie now turns her lens toward the intimate entanglements, romantic misadventures, and sexual capers (let’s be plain here!) she had from childhood through to the present. It is sometimes said that a life lived in fear is a life half-lived, and Carrie certainly never allowed herself to fall into this overly cautious trap. Her detailed and rather personal account has a somewhat genteel tone to the vocabulary and narrative style (seemingly matched by Carrie’s upbringing). However, some of the escapades described are far from genteel indeed; Anita Brookner may well have approved. Perhaps some of the incidents took place in more innocent times, when hitchhiking, for example, while never entirely safe, was a commonly used method of travel; such travellers are seldom spotted these days. Regardless, I do find it curious that she has chosen to reveal some incidents (one must think of one’s reputation!) and I also can’t help wondering if some of the antagonists might be surprised, or even perhaps irked to find themselves featured in such a jaunty and public way. Yes, Carrie’s writing is personal, but it is without artifice or pretension. A more self- conscious writer might have been tempted to venture into moralising or politicising the events, or even indulge in some currently fashionable box-ticking. However, the author avoids any such forced profundity. The pleasure in the book is from the episodes themselves, the author’s honest narrative style, and the wry way in which she reflects upon them. How fortunate to be able to view one’s life with such a positive and amused equanimity!
