My Pilgrim’s Heart is a beautifully written story about simultaneous journeys: a woman’s pilgrimage across the landscapes of Italy and Eastern Europe and a marriage on the line. At 48, Stephanie Dale took time out from her marriage to walk with her son from Rome to Istanbul.

There were three things I walked on my journey from Rome. I walked the geographical landscape, allowing myself to meet the world and her people, the earth and its forces: the sunshine, mountains, wind and ocean. I walked the inner world, as within so without, exploring how the world before me mirrored my thoughts, beliefs and prejudices. And I walked my marriage.

My Pilgrim’s Heart is an extraordinarily honest narrative that explores the timeless issues of sex, money and power in a marriage. For even though Stephanie left her young and troubled marriage behind her, in reality it was with her every single step of the way - a much more significant weight than the 20kg she lugged on her back.

This book is an uncommonly bold exploration of the relationships between women and men: between husband and wife, between mother and adult son, between a woman and the masculine world, between an Australian woman and the men of different cultures she meets on the road, West to East.

The book is also a compelling voyage into the unnamed fears that shape our world.