Pilgrim Stories: On and Off the Road to Santiago, Journeys Along an Ancient Way in Modern Spain

Nancy Frey's Pilgrim Stories was a great resource for me before I hiked the Camino this past summer. There isn't another book like it on the market for this (granted, fairly narrow) market. It's not a day-by-day guide and it's not a spiritual recollection of one's personal experience. There are lots of those out there. But it offers some readable history and anthropology and some reflective criticisms on the Camino. She has a long personal history with the Camino, both as a pilgrim and as a volunteer. If the reader is looking for an accessible, educated account of the Camino de Santiago, one will do well to read Nancy Frey.

Be aware that this is not a practical guide to the Camino. At least, it is not a practical guide in the sense that it does not provide lists of refuges or information about places to sleep. Frey has written a book about the culture of pilgrims and the Camino and a potential reader should see it more as an anthropology text than a how-to book. The sections of the book begin with the kind of person who begins a pilgrimage and ends with the journey home once people have completed the route. As someone who walked the Camino from Utrecht, I was entertained by her descriptions of Camino life. I found myself often nodding in recognition or agreement. I was less interested in her conclusions, I am sorry to admit. But then I was not reading the book from a scholarly perspective. I would recommend the book for someone who would like to get a feel for the culture and experience of walking the Camino. Unfortunately, Frey is not the strongest writer and it often reads like an extended senior thesis. Three stars for the book and one star extra for the extensive bibliography.

Anyone who's walked or thought about walking Spain's greatest long distance walk, the Camino de Santiago will love this book. A young woman who walked this medieval pilgrimage route recommended this book. I began to understand her enthusiasm for this modern-day adventure--a road trip on foot through Spain's majestic lands, visiting the past and the present and meeting all sorts of fascinating people. Anthropologist Nancy Frey has managed to bring the experience to vivid life conjuring the sights, sounds, emotions, exhilarations and disappointments of modern pilgrims as they trek across Spain in search of themselves, God, happiness or whatever else may be meaningful to them. Frey follows hundreds of pilgrims during and after their walk and tackles the questions of what happens once people go home and they trace their lives back to their points of origin around the world--Brazil, Germany, UK, US and, of course, Spain. I highly recommend this book!