The Promised Land - (The Swan House) by Elizabeth Musser (Paperback)

About the Book

Desperate to mend her marriage and herself, Abbie Jowett joins her son in walking the famed Camino pilgrimage. During their journey, they encounter an Iranian working in secret to help refugees and a journalist searching for answers from her broken past--and everyone is called into a deep soul-searching that threatens all their best laid plans.

Book Synopsis

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 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.

From the Back Cover

You'd be surprised at what gets through when everything else is taken away.

Abbie Jowett always has every detail perfectly planned out, including her husband's upcoming surprise fiftieth birthday party. But when he surprises her instead with news that he's leaving, she feels her life unraveling. Already distressed by her son Bobby's determination to take a gap year in Europe in addition to her father's failing health, Abbie is immobilized by grief.

Bobby Jowett has dared to take a gap year to really think about his future. His first stop is volunteering at a refugee center in Austria where he meets a beautiful Iranian girl named Rasa. For idealistic Bobby, it is love at first sight. On the spur of the moment, he invites her to join him in hiking the famed French Camino. But his mother, out of desperation, has also chosen to follow him to France.

Caroline Lefort, a young photojournalist, is writing an article about pilgrims on the Camino. However, she has been like a wandering pilgrim herself for the past ten years, having abandoned her family after a devastating event.

As the lives of these people intersect, they find that the Camino strips them bare, calling each one into deep soul-searching. Against all odds, can they find themselves again?

"The Promised Land is a captivating tale of pilgrimage; Musser expertly navigates the complex landscape of loss while pointing the way to redemption and hope."--SHARON GARLOUGH BROWN, author of the Sensible Shoes Series

"Characters from Musser's The Long Highway Home return in this touching story of four pilgrims walking the French Camino. . . . While this works as a standalone, readers will only fully appreciate the arc of the characters if they've read The Long Highway Home. Karen Kingsbury fans will want to take a look."--Publishers Weekly

"There is a lot going on in this book, including an unusual plot and strong characterization. Faith elements are interwoven in a subtle but clear way. Fans of Michele Phoenix and Lauren K. Denton will appreciate this distinctive story of the human journey."--Library Journal

About the Author

Elizabeth Musser, an Atlanta native, lives and works with her husband in southern France. She is the author of 11 novels, including the critically acclaimed The Swan House and When I Close My Eyes.