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Beautiful debut novel about a grieving son, a wandering monk, and an ancient path where grief and grace share the same road.
Cameron MacAllister is an unlikely pilgrim, not least because he doesn't believe in God ... and he hates walking. But when his mother dies unexpectedly, Cameron learns of her dreams to travel Saint Cuthbert's Way through the hills of Northumberland to Holy Island. She will never have the chance to fulfill that dream, but he can. For her.
What ensues is a story of grief, the kindness of strangers, and the intrigue of his enigmatic and unexpected traveling companion, Brother Aidan, an elderly monk who insists all of life is about learning to pray. As the miles pass under his feet and conversations flow, Cameron must confront questions he had long since considered settled, questions about life, faith, and the difficulty of making sense of a world that itself so rarely makes sense.
“I’ve known for a while now that Austin was a sharp thinker and introspective creator. Thanks to his debut novel, I now know that he’s also a delightful storyteller! I found myself turning the pages, wanting to know more and more about each of his characters and their journeys—and to join them on that journey, both physically and spiritually. Now, I want to walk the pilgrim’s way to Holy Island myself and meet my own Br. Aidan.” —Tsh Oxenreider, author of At Home in the World
“What a delightful novel! The characters come alive, and the book is a quest—following St. Cuthbert’s Way, guided by Br. Aidan—a quest that turns out to be not only a recovery from loss, but also a passionate search for the wellsprings of Christian unity. Christian unity, grounded in the heritage of the faith and in self-sacrificial acts of love, is the very center of this story.” —Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary
“The Long Road to Holy Island is a pilgrimage between two covers, a catechism in the kindness of God, and a call to sainthood. Read and inwardly digest. Give it to your friend and, if opportunity avails, your foes. This is a book to make friends of God.” —Fr. Thomas Plant, author of King Oswald’s Heirs
“This novel invites us along on a young man’s singular, grief-driven journey, which gradually and gracefully widens to encompass a community of fellow travelers and seekers, from Brother Aidan to Bede the cat, from the holy fool Symeon to Anne, whose devotion to Lindisfarne resides deep in her bones. The Long Road to Holy Island is a moving meditation for both the reader and Cameron; like this grieving son, the reader is invited to open up to the world, to embrace the possibility of union with both the people we meet and the land upon which we walk. Suggs has gifted us with a vision of spirituality and an approach to mourning that is expansive, interpersonal, ongoing, and rooted in connectedness. By the time I read the final page and closed the book, I, like Cameron, felt newly awakened, alive to the possibilities of faith and kinship in ‘this new meaning-saturated world.’”—Kristen Holt-Browning, author of Ordinary Devotion
Austin Suggs is a writer and video essayist whose work has reached over 10 million people online. He holds degrees in Theology and Liberal Arts, and his writing explores the intersection of faith and the human experience. When he’s not reading, writing, or filming videos, you can find him chasing the perfect cup of coffee, tending to his sourdough starter, or watching a Liverpool match. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Eliza.