Why a Booktrail?
2000s: They say walking can heal the soul…
Two Steps Forward
What you need to know before your trail
Zoe, a sometime artist, is from California. Martin, an engineer, is from Yorkshire. Both have ended up in picturesque Cluny, in central France. Both are struggling to come to terms with their recent past – for Zoe, the death of her husband; for Martin, a messy divorce.
Looking to make a new start, each sets out alone to walk two thousand kilometres from Cluny to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain, in the footsteps of pilgrims who have walked theCamino (the Way) for centuries. The Camino changes you, it’s said. It’s a chance to find a new version of yourself, and a new beginning. But can these two very different people find themselves? Will they find each other?
Travel Guide
France, Cluny
Cluny, France is the starting point of the story – followed by the mammoth walk in the novel – to the 2038 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
.
“The winter sun was setting and the streetlights were creating halos in the light drizzle”
This is where you pick up the Shell – the St Jacques which is the symbol of the pilgrimage. If someone hands you a shell in the village as in the book, it’s a good sign.
The rest of the walk through France covers quite a lot of ground – Tramayes, Les Echarmeaau, /le Cergne, Le Benison Dieu, St Jean le Maurice, Pommiers, Montverdun, Montbrison, Monarcher, St Privat D’allier, Le Puy En Velay, Sauges, St alban sur Limagnole, Nasbinals, ST Cefly Aubrace, , Estaing, Conques, Figerac, Cor, Cahors, Moissac, Lectoure, Condom, Lectoure, Airs sur L’Adour, Navarreaux, Ostabat and Saint Jean Pied de Pont.
Spain – Santiago de Camino
The authors have apparently walked the Santiago at least twice and it shows. They’ve plotted their every step on a small map in the book which really helps visualise the journey as you read (with the BookTrail map above of course)
They hope that “it will inspire others to undertake their own journeys.”
There are a few different methods in the book – more than one way to reach it for example. One more northern than the other. But all paths here lead to Santiago. The southern route takes someone past Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon, Melide and then Santiago. The northern one goes through Santaner, Valaviciosa, Pola de Allande, Lugo and then finally on to Santiago.
The routes mentioned at the start of the book are referred to as Chemin de Dluny, Jakobsweg Way, Chemin de Puy, Caino del norte, Camino Primitivo, Camino del San salvador, Camino Frances
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
A novel with a difference and the real sense of two people going on very different journeys then meeting in the same destination. A bit like life – and that’s exactly what this novel takes you on – a journey of life.
From the authors of The Rosie Project, a novel I wasn’t that keen on, I wanted to read this as it had that ‘je ne sais quoi’ about it. I supposed I’ve fascinated why people should go on that walk, and what they do in order to get there. both people here had have had very different journeys even to get to where they are going. And it;s a very interesting read along the way.
I love walking (not just on booktrails) obviously and this had a lot of that walking jargon, observations and chat that is very real. Across two countries, with two languages there are also some understandings and funny moments along the way. I really felt as if I was on that walk with them and it was a lot of fun! Their paths cross, recross, they meet some characters along the way, encounter some strange things….the joy is doing the walk yourself (by reading the book if not the real thing) and seeing what your version is like.
This book made me smile, laugh, frown, wonder and dream and then think about what I would be like on a journey like this, how an ordinary person or persons can have the most fascinating stories or reasons for going.
It’s a the international version of Harold Fry to some degree and that’s no bad thing! A really insightful book!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Two Steps Forward
Destination : France, Cluny, Spain, Santiago de Compostela Author/Guide: Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist Departure Time: 2000s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
