Shadow of a Pilgrim

What happens when a classics-trained, half-a-century-lapsed Irish-American Catholic sets out to walk not one, but two Caminos, the thousand-year-old pilgrimage routes that lead through a vast arc of European history and culture to culminate in the revered burial place of the Apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain?This rich and unusual book, a day-to-day and densely-photographed account of one apostate pilgrim's journey, carries the reader through forests, farmers' fields and vineyards, mountains, ancient battle sites, and famous cities, first on the popular inland Camino Frances; and then along the wild, rugged coast of northern Spain on the Camino del Norte.Like the thousands who walk the Camino as a religious experience, a physical accomplishment, or a prism to re-focus their lives, this thoughtful, but always irreverent, skeptic charts both an outward and an inner journey. As Tom Connell tracks his doubts, questions, and inner turmoil, he also delivers a large dose of both sardonic and refreshing humor. In equal measure, his recorded stories, pictures, insights, and belly-laughing incidents relay the joy of his journey the beauty of the landscape and the architecture, the layered complexity of history, the simple grace of the Spanish people, and the healing calm of inner reflection and solitude.