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 Francés; 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.