Jennifer Lash’s book differs from most of the other books I have read in that it is not just a single pilgrimage. It is more of a journey to many different places where people have made pilgrimages. The Irish author does eventually arrive in Santiago after trips by train or bus to shrines in Lourdes, Taize´, Le Puy, Rocamadour and several others in the early part of the 1990s.
I sympathized with the author in that she is making her journey after recovering from treatment for Breast Cancer. Having had the dreaded diagnoses over twenty years ago myself, I could understand her angst. Jennifer is a seasoned author, with several published books, a mother of six children, including two famous actors – Joseph and Ralph Fiennes and a determined pilgrim.
On Pilgrimage took me to many places I had never been and to holy relics I never knew existed. For the devout it is an amazing description of significant places of worship. For the traveller it is an itinerary of “off the track” venues, many of which were quite busy.
I enjoyed Jennifer Lash’s book, even if it was a bit ponderous. If you want more information on her life and the outcome of her Cancer, it is better to google “mother of Joseph Fiennes.” By our children shall we be known.