The Book of Wanderings: A Mother-Daughter Pilgrimage

A poet, essayist, and literature teacher at the University of Houston meditates on the incongruence of her conventional life with the path she desired but never took as a young woman%E2%80%94%E2%80%9Ca bohemian-explorer-intellectual kind of life"%E2%80%94in this travel memoir. Meyer and her oldest daughter embark on a life-enhancing odyssey through Germany, Italy, Croatia, Greece, and parts of the Middle East to duplicate the pilgrimage of Felix Fabri, a Dominican friar in the Middle Ages. Meyer weaves together Fabri's pilgrimage with her own, revealing a confluence of insight and experiences, even though they lived centuries apart. Occasional bumps in the road include a case of head lice, intestinal afflictions, transportation and lodging hardships, and a frightening encounter in the Sinai, which could have ended very badly. These are balanced with a lighter tone. Meyer follows Fabri's path, %E2%80%9Cto bare myself to the actual world, to see it and experience it for myself, not just read about it in books... trying to return to something essential within myself." Meyer's internal dialogue is accessible, and will resonate with readers experiencing similar midlife reflection. (Mar.)