Angelica Glass
Scavenging Beauty: A Memoir in Walks
(Riverhead Books, July 2026)
In this beguiling memoir of discovery and transformation, a woman walks every street in Santa Cruz County, California, and finds unexpected healing.
Angelica Glass spent decades as a social worker helping families struggling with poverty, addiction, abuse and neglect. Needing relief from work-related stress, she turned to walking as an outlet. What began as a way to incorporate more exercise into her busy life transformed into something extraordinary: a years-long odyssey in which Glass drew upon physical exercise, a close observation of the natural world, and long periods of introspection to reconcile with her own past.
Between moments of awe as she explored her community and documented what she saw with her camera, she grappled with the turmoil of her early years in a complicated, challenging family, the aging process, long-held insecurities, and grief.
Whether wandering through residential neighborhoods, over redwood-strewn mountain passes, or along the seashore, Glass found solace and developed a growing sense of peace. By looking to the natural world to suture old wounds — by scavenging beauty on her terms — she came to understand what it means to feel whole.
Praise for Scavenging Beauty
“A moving excavation of the long tail of family trauma and the healing power of a long walk.” – Katherine May, author of Wintering and Enchantment
“Angelica Glass has written an extraordinary memoir of a harrowing childhood and the healing and transformation she experienced while walking every single street in Santa Cruz County. This is beautiful nature writing coupled with depth and insight into trauma, forgiveness and especially love. This book inspires as it charms.” – Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life and Somehow: Thoughts on Love
“Scavenging Beauty is utterly, astonishingly good. Angelica Glass takes us from the disordered ecosystem of a difficult childhood though the healing perfection of the natural world, all of it is suffused with nuance, compassion, and a curiosity that overflows its banks. This is among the best memoirs in this genre. I’m a better person for having read it.” —Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich and Wreck
“A good walk sharpens the eye, and Angelica Glass has made a raw, crystal-clear amble out of her life. Her steps will make you want to stand up from your chair and set off through your own life.”— Craig Childs, author of The Wild Dark
Angelica Glass had a decades-long career in social work in California, including designing and directing a program that provides support and services to children and families affected by methamphetamine abuse. The mother of two grown sons, she lives with her wife in Santa Cruz, California.