Summary: A two generation story of self discovery on the Camino.
The Camino is something I will never do. I would love to do it, but it is highly unlikely that I will ever do it. That being said, several people that are in a book group that I am in have done it. A married couple that I knew from college managed a way station for almost two decades. The son of one of my best friends has done it. And I know there are tons of memoirs and other books about it.
I picked up Call of the Camino because I am in a data entry phase of my work and I like to put light fiction on in the background to make the data work more tolerable. The kindle book was on sale and the audiobook was part of the Audible free library for members. So it was a very low cost to entry.
As I started I wasn’t really impressed. The book it telling two stories, at two points in time, simultaneously. This is something that is not new. You find out very quickly that the two stories are of a daughter in the present getting the chance to write a travel story about the Camino. And then the second story is about the daughter’s mother, who died when the daughter was a toddler. The daughter knows her father (who also died when she was in elementary school) and mother met while doing the Camino. There is obviously a pull to the Camino for the daughter. I think the motivation for the mother’s story is a bit far fetched, but once you suspend disbelief about the reason for the mother’s trip the rest is good.
I was surprised that I like this as much as I did. It is a novel of self discovery and light romance while on a trip that is traditionally associated with a spiritual pilgrimage. The novel is respectful of the spiritual pilgrimage, while not being oriented toward faith. I listened to it for two days while working. And then I was fully invested and read about 10 (short) chapters last night before finishing up the story today on audio.
The narration was good. The writing was engaging. The basic outline of the story was predicable, but still fun enough to follow along. Especially if you can pick it up on sale or borrow it from the library, it is an enjoyable read.
Call of the Camino: A Novel by Suzanne Redfearn Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook