Synopses & Reviews
Award-winning Australian journalist Stephanie Dale shares with readers a very long walk she took in 2007 as she took time from her newly minted marriage to join her son Ben for a walkabout journey from Rome to Istanbul, all on foot for Ben; mostly on foot for Dale. It was during this walk that Dale not only traveled the beautiful countrysides of Europe and the Middle East, she also visited the inner landscapes of her mind and marriage. She took what she saw and experienced and put it on paper. The result: My Pilgrim's Heart.
Synopsis
For Dale, trekking from Rome to Istanbul by foot was more than roaming unknown paths through foreign lands. It was a journey into the unexplored recesses of her heart after her marriage of 15 months came to an end. Six months prior to meeting up with her son in Rome, Dale had set out on a journey of her own: marriage and marriage counseling. "I am not the first woman stung by the rubber band of reality on her honeymoon, not the first to experience the cold light of conjugal dawn burning the fairy dust from her eyes." In an age when 'self-development' has become a product to be packaged and sold, Dale does her internal journeying her own way - on pilgrimage through Italy, the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. As she traverses war-torn lands, her physical journey reflects an inner one of finding her place in her world as a middle-aged woman baffled by the demands of marriage. Dale's themes are universal as My Pilgrim's Heart examines the relationships between men and women: husband and wife, mother and adult son, and even western women and Arabic men with a backdrop of Islam. Dale explores the power of money, female sexuality and the release of the subconscious through travel. From menopause and blisters, to Albanian hospitality, Dale's observations are entertaining, honest, and bold.
About the Author
Dale earned her BA degree in Journalism from South Australian College of Advanced Education. She has been awarded the Australian Journalist Association Prodi award for Best feature in 1990, the Sir Harry Budd Memorial Award in 1992 and a gold medal IPPY award for Hymn for the Wounded Man for Best Fiction in 2011.
She currently resides in Mullumbimby Australia.