About:
The Camino by Anya Niewierra is a fictional travelogue of a bereaved wife, walking the Camino de Santiago to understand why her husband committed suicide while he was doing it. Ms. Niewierra is the bestselling author from the Netherlands, known as the "queen of Literature".
- 384 pages
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1668085364
My rating for The Camino - 5
Buy The Camino from Amazon.com*
More books by Anya Niewierra*
More books translated by Eileen Stevens*
Thoughts:
A terrific book, full of atmosphere, tension, and storytelling perfectly balanced. The book is a slow burn psychological mystery, but also a very moving historical novel about the atrocities done during the Bosnian War.
I've read a few books about the Bosnian War as well as travelogues about Camino de Santiago, so I had some background on both. I remember enjoying several of the travelogues very much, which is why I picked up this book.
The Camino by Anya Niewierra (translated by Eileen Stevens) captures a sense of what the trail would be like. The author doesn't make the reader smell the French countryside and feel the sores on her feet and the exhaustion she feels at the end of a long hike. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the small B&Bs along the route.
The scenic trail contrasted against the horrors of the atrocities done during the war is jarring. Ms. Niewierra weaves moral complexity and trauma of the war seamlessly into the narrative, which adds more nuance and tension to the plot.
Man of la Book's Margin Notes: Physical vs. Emotional Stakes
Lotte Bonne's trek through the French route of Camino de Santiago was difficult and emotionally charged. Some of the books I've read about the same route also used rigor as a backdrop, but the spiritual journeys differ, but I would assume that's true for every pilgrim.
1. Lotte Bonnet (The Camino by Anya Niewierra):
Lotte is not a traditional pilgrim seeing spiritual growth, but looking for answers that might never come, working through enormous grief. She walks in the footsteps of her husband, a year to the day, following his itinerary to answer a single question: why did he commit suicide.
Lotte's physical exhaustion parallels her psychological state as she discovers more and more about her husband's hidden past. The threats and near misses of a killer who is after her mirrors the dangers of finding the truth. Her spiritual transformation centers on processing the betrayal she discovers and processes the trauma she feels.
It's not about finding peace, but more about confronting the truth that everything she knew about her husband was a life. The physical rigor forces Lotte to process the reality of moral ambiguity, a realization that helps her become a stronger woman.
2. Andrew McCarthy (Walking with Sam):
Mr. McCarthy's trails of endurance are more focused on bonding with his son, Sam, and reflection on their relationship than the dangers and horrors faced by Lotte. The men walked 500 mites across Spain, which helped the author navigate fatherhood, his divorce, and relationship with his son.
The shared physical hardship helped the two men bond and reconcile. Enduring the trail next to his son allows them to share an identity and understand each other, as well as what it means to be an adult.
3. Gideon Lewis-Kraus (A Sense of Direction):
Mr. Lewis-Kraus' journey was an attempt to reconcile family relationships, especially with his father, as well as do something about the stagnation he felt. The author also walked across Spain, and the Camino de Santiago served as a setting for contemplation, internal monologues and commentary on living on the trail and the eccentricities that come with it.
By suffering through blisters, heat, and long miles with his son, Mr. Lewis-Kraus realizes that not everyone is against him. This realization leads to personal growth and releasing the lingering resentment in him.
Through its dual timelines, the novel interrogates the long-term psychological impact of war on both victims and perpetrators.
What is the true cost of surviving collective trauma?
The protagonist, Lotte, is an empathetic characters whose grief feels genuine. She navigates the Camino as well as she navigates her trauma and feelings of betrayal along the way. The novel is not a standard thriller, but an exploration of how trauma shapes identities of those who experienced it and those who inherited it as well.
This is an extraordinary, sharp, deep and complex thriller. I enjoyed all aspects of the book, the travelogue, history, and Lotte's story immensely.
Synopsis:
Lotte Bonnet, a Dutch chocolatier in her early forties is walking the Camino de Santiago in the footsteps of her husband, Emil. She hopes to understand why; from some reason Emil has killed himself during his own journey the previous year.
As she hikes the famous route through the French countryside she shares her anguish and forms new friendships with fellow travelers/pilgrims. Along the way she discovers that Emil was actually an assumed identity, and stories from Sarajevo makes her question everything she thought she knew about her husband.
And then she realizes someone is trying to kill her.
Buy The Camino from Amazon.com*
More books by Anya Niewierra*
More books translated by Eileen Stevens*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
