Welcome to Good Book/Good Bread! Every two weeks, I recommend a book I love, and bake a delicious bread that fits with an aspect of the story. This week: Pure Land by Annette McGivney and sesame challah.
Part 1: Good Book
In a nutshell
Pure Land is a non-fiction book that begins with the murder of Tomomi Hanamure, an adventurous Japanese woman who was captivated by wild, empty spaces. The 34-year-old worked hard in Japan to save money for repeated trips to the U.S., always drawn on her travels to the arid landscapes and openness of the Southwest.
In the first few pages, we learn her life ended deep in the Grand Canyon, in the turquoise waters of Havasu Falls near Supai Village, an isolated Havasupai reservation only accessible by a long hike or helicopter. McGivney first reported on Hanamure’s murder in 2007 while writing a piece for Backpacker magazine, and then spent years meticulously gathering the many pieces together that make up this book.
Pure Land examines not only Hanamure’s life and the days leading up to her murder, but the life of the distressed young man who committed the crime, and the history of injustices against the original inhabitants of the Grand Canyon. Along the way, McGivney’s unwavering determination to understand what happened helps guide her towards healing some of her own trauma.
Three things I liked about Pure Land
1. The people involved are presented as complicated, real people.
A lot of contemporary true crime storytelling defines the people involved solely through the lens of the violence committed against them or by them. The longform nature of Pure Land, as well as the time frame McGivney spent reporting, mean we get a more complex picture of who Hanamure and her killer were. From spending time with their respective families and those who loved them, to painstaking reporting on the challenges both faced, McGivney offers the reader a comprehensive view into two lives before they intersected at Havasu Falls.
2. Hanamure plays a role in the narration.
McGivney created strong connections with Hanamure’s family in Japan, who were understandably heartbroken and confused about her death. Through her relationships with them, she was given access to Hanamure’s travel journals, and uses those in part to take the reader along on the young woman’s journey. By peppering these entries through the book, we get to share in Hanamure’s excitement as she watches wild buffalo in Yellowstone, hikes the steep Bright Angel Trail into the Grand Canyon, and takes in waterfalls on the John Muir trail. She gets to be an active narrator in her own story.
3. It made me examine how much I know about the places I adventure in.
I definitely felt some shame reading Pure Land, because it made me realize how ignorant I was about the history of the Grand Canyon. In 2017, I had the incredible opportunity to raft for several weeks through the Grand Canyon with my friends on a coveted Colorado River permit. I’ll never forget approaching the turquoise waters of Havasu Creek where it flowed into the silty Colorado, and looking down from my raft at the clear demarcation line in the water.
We tied up our rafts, hiked up the creek bank and marvelled at the seemingly endless, opaque pools. At the time, I didn’t know about Supai Village, which was only six kilometers upstream as the crow flies. I was also unfamiliar with the extremely problematic history of how the Havasupai people were mistreated by the federal government, and how their land was taken away in the creation of the park.
Pure Land gave me a better understanding of the complicated and painful history of the Grand Canyon. It also made me commit to making a real effort to learn about the human history of the places I travel through, instead of just parachuting in, only focused on my own upcoming experience.
Notable passage:
“The distant, jagged edge of the South Rim formed a silhouette against an inky sky that sparkled with diamonds. Directly overhead, the Milky Way arched across the heavens from rim to rim and infinitely beyond. In Japanese Shinto tradition, this was so much kami. The outdoors was not just beautiful, but also full of animated spirits; the stars, the rocks, the wind, everything in nature possessed unique powers that were once worshipped by the Japanese. But in America, unlike Japan, nature was also so very big—the sky, the canyon, even the friendliness of fellow travelers was massive. For this the Japanese had a special word: Daishizen. Great nature.”
And, if you like Pure Land, read this:
The Adventurer’s Son by Roman Dial
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
Part 2: Good Bread
Sesame Challah
Why this bread for this book?
What makes Pure Land so interesting is the graceful way McGivney inserts her own personal challenges into the book, alongside telling the story of Hanamure and the young man who killed her. As the reader, you get an unusual and extremely engaging narrative from their colliding experiences. I thought a three-strand braided challah was a great representation of these three lives becoming part of the same story.
Challah is a traditional Jewish bread typically eaten on Shabbat and served at other major holidays. It's slightly sweet, and the egg wash before baking gives the loaf a shiny, caramel-hued exterior. This bread smells especially magical while baking.
Source recipe and additions
I used Smitten Kitchen’s Challah recipe, and there is a great video to go along with it. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe makes two six-strand loaves of challah, but I opted to make three smaller ones, each with three strands. For two of them I did a straight braided loaf, and for the other, pictured here, I did a circular loaf. To make the circular loaf, once I was done braiding, I just connected the top and the bottom to form a ring.
I added sesame seeds on the outside—I love sesame seeds on bread because their oil permeates the dough when baked, adding a beautiful flavour. Challah is especially well suited to adding seeds of any kind because they stick really easily to the egg wash.
Works well as:
French toast
Toasted with nutella and bananas
Straight out of the oven, with butter