Two Steps Forward

Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781473675407

Price: £14.99

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‘Charming and absorbing’ Daily Mail ‘Sleepless in Seattle meets Wild . . . A beautifully crafted tale of love, self-acceptance, and blisters’ Sunday Express

A smart, funny novel of second chances and reinvention from the author of The Rosie Result – two misfits walk 2,000 km along the Camino to find themselves and, perhaps, each other.

Zoe, a sometime artist, is from California. Martin, an engineer, is from Yorkshire. Both have ended up in picturesque Cluny, in central France. Both are struggling to come to terms with their recent past – for Zoe, the death of her husband; for Martin, a messy divorce.

Looking to make a new start, each sets out alone to walk two thousand kilometres from Cluny to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain, in the footsteps of pilgrims who have walked the Camino (the Way) for centuries. The Camino changes you, it’s said. It’s a chance to find a new version of yourself, and a new beginning. But can these two very different people find themselves? Will they find each other?

In this smart, funny and romantic journey, Martin’s and Zoe’s stories are told in alternating chapters by husband-and-wife team Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist. Two Steps Forward is a novel about renewal – physical, psychological and spiritual. It’s about the challenge of walking a long distance and of working out where you are going. And it’s about what you decide to keep, what you choose to leave behind and what you rediscover along the way.

Optioned for film by Ellen deGeneres.

Reviews

Entertaining and refreshingly unpredictable
Frances Atkinson, Sydney Morning Herald
A fun misadventure of misunderstandings
The New Daily
A charming tale of intrepid, later-life romance ... Much like the winding pilgrimage the book's characters take, their romance charts a bumpy course. The authors unpack their protagonists' insecurities and emotional issues with great skill and sensitivity.
iBooks
Charming and absorbing
Daily Mail
The cast of quirky characters make this a diverting read
The Herald
The misunderstandings, blisters and bust ups make for a charming, uplifting journey
The People
Sleepless in Seattle meets Wild as missed opportunities and misunderstandings keep the pair from getting together and a raucous supporting cast of fellow walkers keep the fun bubbling. A beautifully crafted tale of love, self-acceptance and blisters.
Sunday Express
Intriguing
Sunday Post (Dundee)
An authentic and diverting read that will make you want to put on your walking boots and book a one-way ticket to southern France
Press Association
Incredibly powerful . . . An untraditional love story, a time to reflect and some fascinating characters; I was completely caught up in the magic of this book
Chloe Douglas blog