Product Description

"What follows is the true story of an extraordinary ordinary woman. Although it is her story, in the end it will also be yours..." It was autumn when Paul McDermott stood at the doorway to a characterless house that would exert a pull on him years after he closed the door for the final time. He was nervous, and totally unprepared to meet the woman he had agreed to visit. Val, 74 and dying of cancer, lived anonymously in this little house. She, too, was frightened. Her life had taken on a dull uniformity, not unlike her garden: trimmed, fenced in and concreted over where deemed prudent. All that had seemed possible and hopeful had been pruned back or poisoned at the roots. This was not what Val had expected her life to become. Step by step, inch by inch, Val began to redress her past, to face her future, and to take on a clarity and peace that rekindled her humanity and her dignity. And, alongside her, Paul's own perceptions and compromises were challenged in a way he would never have believed when he first arrived at her door. Through trial and error they created something profound and regenerating between them. Full of a surprising warmth, mixed with courage and humour, this remarkable story of the unfolding of an unlikely friendship becomes deeply life-affirming, not only for the two protagonists on their parallel journey - but also for us all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #954568 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Oliver James, author of They **** You Up: How To Survive Family Life
'A moving, profound exploration of life, death and regeneration'

Sogyal Rinpoche, author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
A beautiful, uplifting story of transformation... when death brings us face to face with the ultimate meaning of our lives.

Stephanie Dowrick, author of Intimacy and Solitude
Touching and totally engaging

Customer Reviews

Simply transformational
I read this book from beginning to end within 48 hours of receiving it. It tells the story of how Paul's commitment to visiting a dying old lady provokes a journey of self-discovery in him, and how their experiences, although very different, meet as he continues to befriend her. Paul's style in writing is excellent, combining as it does the harsh reality to life with stunningly poetic expression. In essence it is a very simple tale, but something magical lies within it. I experience from it honesty, courage, and acceptance all rolled into one. Paul's ability to affect another rubs off on me the reader in the same way it inevitably did with Val.

Pilgrims: Two Unlikely Friends Unravel the Mystery of Life
I was deeply affected by this profoundly moving account of the relationship between a dying woman and a young man in search of deeper meaning in life. Essential reading to gain a refreshed perspective on life - and death.

The Book of Life and Death and Everything in Between
A book about life...the good moments, the ordinary moments and the ending moments. A book that is at times witty and sad but always honest...a thoroughly good read.