Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist (Review by Brittany Ahr)
Two Steps Forward is a story by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist that is told from two seperate points of view: an artist and mother dealing with her husband’s recent death and an engineer dealing with a recent divorce. These two people who are in the middle of their lives start off on a journey to find themselves along the Camino de Santiago, a centuries-old spiritual pilgrim route that often starts in France and ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. While they started out separately, their journeys quickly became intertwined.
I read this book not knowing what it was about and came out wanting to walk the Chemin (another name for the pilgrimage). I loved that there were two different authors for the separate characters– it really provided a clarity to the two voices and created more well-rounded perspectives throughout the plot of the story. The side characters—especially the people they met along the pilgrimage—were extremely entertaining and provided for a more interesting depth to the protagonists. Honestly, I think about the story lines a few times a week and I’m excited to read it again. This has become one of my favorite books and I would definitely suggest the Girly Book Club read it for one our monthly books. It’s the perfect book to go to if you’re dreaming of traveling the world and making a change. Not only will this book fulfill those needs, but it has the ability to inspire new dreams you never thought you could have. Also, the characters are a little bit older—their children are grown and they’re looking to be fulfilled themselves. I think this sets a good precedent for people in that time frame of life to show them that a new time in their life is just beginning and it’s something they can enjoy and explore.