Toward Beauty

Reigniting a Creative Life on the Camino de Santiago

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Pub Date 11 Oct 2022 | Archive Date 10 Oct 2022

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Description

On the 830 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago del Norte, with the world in the grip of a pandemic, a theatre director grapples with his past and seeks to chart his future.

At the Grand Theatre in London, Canada, artistic director Dennis Garnhum is getting ready to debut a hotly anticipated production. But the morning of opening night, the world suddenly shuts down. COVID -19 has arrived, the play is lost in limbo, and the theatre’s doors close indefinitely.

Facing a crisis of confidence and a deep despair over the loss of his creative expression, Garnhum travels to northern Spain to hike the rugged Camino de Santiago del Norte, a winding path of 830 kilometres that hugs the Atlantic Ocean. As he hikes from town to town alone, Garnhum tries to reconcile his life’s contradictions—his identity as a public figure and independent artist; his simultaneous need for conversation and solitude; his Catholic upbringing alongside his life as a gay man. With each step, Garnhum realizes that the way forward is to trust in the power of the ancient path.

Part poignant memoir, part irresistibly charming travelogue, Toward Beauty follows Garnhum through the colourful moments of the trail and the unique camaraderie he finds among fellow pilgrims from around the world. Throughout, Garnhum’s story shines a light on the power of the human spirit to overcome heartbreak and fear and move toward beauty, one small step at a time.

On the 830 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago del Norte, with the world in the grip of a pandemic, a theatre director grapples with his past and seeks to chart his future.

At the Grand Theatre in...


A Note From the Publisher

Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61869321-toward-beauty?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=uKtY8c4BB5&rank=7#other_reviews

Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61869321-toward-beauty?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=uKtY8c4BB5&rank=7#other_reviews


Advance Praise

"A vivid, thoughtful, and openhearted pilgrim's tale of regeneration, Toward Beauty will charm and move you and make you laugh." 

- Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room

"A vivid, thoughtful, and openhearted pilgrim's tale of regeneration, Toward Beauty will charm and move you and make you laugh." 

- Emma Donoghue, bestselling author of Room


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Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9781778265303
PRICE $15.95 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After the Pandemic reduces him to tears, a theatre director in Canada decides to hike the Camino del Norte in Spain. After just a few pages, you feel like you know Dennis, the author, well. He has a wonderful, friendly, and warm tone to his writing and does a terrific job of taking you on this pilgrimage with him. He struggles and resolves several old sources of hurt and meets kind and interesting people along the way.

This book is quite accessible to those interested in pilgrimages but who do not necessarily go to church or do not go on pilgrimage for spiritual reasons. The author is a lapsed Catholic, and he discusses what brought him to that point. I liked that he stayed in some nice places along his journey and didn't try to cross all the T's on the "rules" of this kind of pilgrimage. His journey was marvelously transformational, but not necessarily spiritual. It worked.

Highly recommended for thoughtful, insightful and interesting reading.

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