What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim: A Midlife Misadventure on Spain’s Camino de Santiago de Compostela by Jane Christmas – Spain (July)A tense thriller of child abduction set in LONDON
Join the Women’s Travel Book Club with TripFiction and JourneyWoman
8th March 2023
In 2022, TripFiction and JourneyWoman – the world’s leading travel advice website for women – partnered to launch a Book Club presenting compelling reads set in incredible locations. The TripFiction database has thousands of location-based books set all around the world to transport you to a location of your dreams, and each month we select just one book from the database to discuss together.
Book Club meetings are hosted by Wendy, Sally and Carolyn from JourneyWoman and are held the third Wednesday of each month at 8 pm EDT.
Here are the books we will be reading for the next six months:
Remember Me by Charity Norman – New Zealand (April)
Chosen by readers in last year’s poll, this book was published in March 2022 and is finally available and at a reasonable cost for those who would like to purchase a new copy. Since we know New Zealand is on many bucket list, we thought we’d give it a go first!
The plot is one that many of us can relate to, as it involves caregiving. In this book, Emily returns to New Zealand’s North Island to take care of her father, who is struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. Once there, she finds her hometown still haunted by the mysterious disappearance of a young woman 25 years before. Now, shattering truths about the past threaten to rip the close-knit community apart.
This is a heartfelt, page-turning suspense novel from the bestselling author of The Secrets of Strangers – ideal reading-group fiction, perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty. Shortlisted for Best Crime Novel in the Ngaio Marsh Awards for Crime Fiction, and for Best International Crime Fiction in the Ned Kelly Awards.
The Kimono Tattoo by Rebecca Copeland – Kyoto (May)
If you love textiles, you’ll love this book, wihch takes takes readers on an intricate journey into Kyoto’s intraicate world of kimono design. Written by Rebecca Copeland, this is her debut work, wihch touches on questions of identify, belonging and self-discovery.
This high-octane multicultural thriller centres around American translator, Ruth Bennett, who recently returned to her childhood home in Kyoto, after losing her job in the United States (and her marriage). Ruth was hoping her new job would offer a quiet diversion, perhaps even boost her flagging confidence. But she soon finds the storyline in the mysterious novel she’s translating is leaking into her everyday life. Fictional characters turn out to be real, and the past catches up with the present in a menacing way. Using her skills as a translator and her intimate knowledge of both kimono and Kyoto, Ruth is forced to confront a vicious killer along with her own painful family secrets.
The Kimono Tattoo is an intelligent escape-into the past, into the mind, into a fascinating culture. Finely crafted and perfectly paced, this literary thriller remains engrossing long after the last sentence, opening a world that lingers in the imagination.” – Jeannette Cooperman, St. Louis Media Hall of Fame journalist, essayist, and author of A Circumstance of Blood
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré – Nigeria (June)
We can all relate to the need for women to find their voice — and freedom. This is the unforgettable story of Adunni, a 14-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education and the debut novel of Abi Daré, who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and has lived in the UK for 18 years.
As the only daughter of a broke father, Adunni is a valuable commodity. Removed from school and sold as a third wife to an old man, her life amounts to this: four goats, two bags of rice, some chickens and a new TV. When unspeakable tragedy swiftly strikes in her new home, she is secretly sold as a domestic servant to a household in the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where no one will talk about the strange disappearance of her predecessor, Rebecca. No one but Adunni…
As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless servant, fourteen-year-old Adunni is repeatedly told that she is nothing. But Adunni won’t be silenced. She is determined to find her voice – in a whisper, in song, in broken English – until she can speak for herself, for the girls like Rebecca who came before, and for all the girls who will follow.
“I’m excited about this debut novel from Nigerian author Abi Daré. . . . In Nigeria, and around the world, girls are fighting for their right to learn. I’m grateful to Abi for showing the challenges Nigerian girls face and showcasing the power of their voices.”— Malala Yousafzai
“A celebration of girls who dare to dream.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers (Oprah’s Book Club pick)
What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim: A Midlife Misadventure on Spain’s Camino de Santiago de Compostela by Jane Christmas – Spain (July)
Written by Canadian Jane Christmas, this is a must-read for any woman who wants to walk the Camino de Santiago. It’s not a guidebook, rather, it’s a hilarious look at one woman’s journey through Spain that will have you laughing throughout — and inspire you to walk it on your own terms. I met Jane last fall in Bath, UK, and she’s walking the Camino again -this time from the bottom of Spain.
The description alone is compelling: “Who knew that a bottle of wine, an airline steward, and a rash of goosebumps would direct me to a 780-kilometre trek across Spain, despite the fact I had never backpacked or laced up hiking boots? I believe that every physical journey we take has a metaphysical one (or six) going on inside us simultaneously; for me, that year, those side journeys included healing a broken heart, grappling with the politics of female friendships, and trying not to be a whining middle-aged woman. Then, in the midst of it all, something wonderfully unexpected sprang up, and altered my universe. Never underestimate the power of goosebumps, but if it ends up involving 14 other women don’t say you weren’t warned.”
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