Spotlight on The Promised Land by Elizabeth Musser UPDATED WITH REVIEW

I was part of the blog tour for this book and my review was due to be posted on February 22nd. However due to the late arrival of the book I was not able to read and review it by then and I submitted this spotlight post instead. I am happy to add this review to the post.

‘With her oldest son taking a gap year in Europe, her aging father losing his sight and his memory, and her husband of twenty years announcing that he's leaving her, Abbie Bartholomew Jowett is surrounded by overwhelming loss.
Desperate to mend her marriage and herself, she follows her son, Bobby, to walk the famed Camino pilgrimage. During their journey they encounter Rasa, an Iranian woman working in secret helping other refugees, and Caroline, a journalist who is studying pilgrims on the Camino while searching for answers from her broken past.
Each individual has their own reasons for the pilgrimage, but together they learn that the Camino strips you bare and calls you into deep soul-searching that can threaten all your best laid plans.’

Although this book is part of a series and there’s plenty of references to past events which may well feature in previous books my not having read the earlier books in no way detracted from my enjoyment of this book. If anything it made me want to seek out the other books!

I was reminded of Tracey Scott-Townsend’s The Vagabond Mother, perhaps because I read it so recently, and also Cheryl Strayed’s Wild because this book tells of a more mature woman setting out on a journey, a pilgrimage. And for me the premise of the book is ably summed up by Rasa, one of the characters.

‘We are all refugees - pilgrims on the earth. We are awaiting our eternal home.’

Faith, belief, spirituality is central to the book and forms the central core of many of the characters, all seeking and open to finding. The role and motivation of the artist is also an importune theme. The devastation of radicalisation also features. The Promised Land of the title conjures many images, biblical and beyond. I guess we are all searching for our own promised lands, our own eternal homes.

The narrative is told from three perspectives, Abbie, who I guess could call the main charter, but also her sone, Bobby and Caroline, a journalist, who is sister to a close friend of Bobby’s. All three make the pilgrimage of the famed Camino but all have very different reasons for doing so. All are making journeys of self discovery.

The characters are all relatable and the book is well written, substantial and expansive; descriptions palpable,  emotions moving. The book nestles within the Christian fiction genre with much to say abut each character’s relationship with God. There’s also an intriguing mystery running alongside the pilgrimage which adds to the sense of a novel with substance.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it uplifting in these troubled times we’re enduring currently.

My thanks to Kelly and Meggy of the LoveBooksTours for my gifted copy of the book and a place upon the blog tour.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE PROMISED LAND

The Promised Land is the third in a series called The Swan House. I haven’t read this book. I would like to read it. But due to situations beyond anyone’s control I am without a copy. So I’ll do the next best thing and offer a post about the book and the writer. 

It sounds like my kind of book. Offer me the words “pilgrimage“ and “soul-searching“ and I’m hooked. I like stories that talk of peoples’ searches in order to find and heal themselves. And given the times we are living in at the moment it seems like a perfect literary vaccine to help us through these trying times.

 

I also like to discover new writers. It also interests me to find a writer who has been prolific and yet I’ve never heard of them. Usually my bad. So I found out a little bit about Elizabeth Musser.

This is what I found on “Bookbub” 

'Elizabeth Musser writes "entertainment with a soul" from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Her highly acclaimed, bestselling novel, The Swan House, was named one of Amazon's Top Christian Books of the Year. The Mussers have two sons, a daughter-in-law and three grandchildren who all live way too far away in America. Find more about Elizabeth's novels at www.elizabethmusser.com and on Facebook Elizabeth-Musser, Twitter @EMusserAuthor, and Pinterest EMusserAuthor'

And unsurprisingly that then took me to Elizabeth‘s own website where I had a rummage around! You can find out all about Elizabeth on her informative website. Her journey into writing. Her beliefs. Her role as a pastoral caregiver to missionaries. The many novels that she’s written. Her own blog. It's a rich and varied website that offers an insight into the author and her motivations for writing. 

 

 

UPDATE: Since preparing this post I’m pleased to say that I now have a copy of the book. I will read it and post a review on my blog in due course. Watch this space as they say.