The Pilgrim's Hearth

Name: The Pilgrim's Hearth
Brand: Sacred Steps Books
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Before the table, a hearth was kindled.

Matthieu Dubois reached the summit of his profession and found nothing there worth keeping. A decorated chef in Geneva, he caught sight of his own face in a sheet of polished steel one bad night and understood he had climbed the wrong mountain.

His grandmother, who walked the Camino in her youth, sends him to Spain with a few quiet words and an old kitchen knife. He goes to watch the pilgrims arrive, with no intention of becoming one.

What he finds at the end of the road is a cold parish house on a granite spit, a hundred-year-old table that has heard every word a village ever needed to say, and a hearth that has not been lit in years.

The Pilgrim’s Hearth is the story of the man who relit it.

From best-selling author Kevin Donahue, The Pilgrim's Hearth is a prequel novella of the Camino Chronicles chronicles series.

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PREQUEL: The Pilgrim's Hearth (Novella)

BOOK ONE: The Pilgrim's Table

BOOK TWO: The Pilgrim's Letter (Feb. 2027)

BOOK THREE: TBA (Nov. 2027)

Some journeys change your destination.

Others change you.

On an October evening in Muxía, Spain – the place medievals called “the end of the world” – five strangers arrive separately at a pilgrim inn. A Boston woman who has just walked 1,600 kilometers away from a 23-year marriage.

A young man, eight months sober, finishing his Camino on a bus. A Canadian couple on their fourth Camino, contemplating retirement and what matters most. A Spanish teacher carrying her dead brother’s stone. Their host, a French chef who escaped corporate kitchens, has never walked the Camino himself.

A communal meal at the end of their journey leads to laughter, confessions, and unexpected grace.

It’s a story about the challenges we carry, the questions we haven’t answered, and the strangers who sometimes see us best.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF:

You’ve ever wondered if it is too late to change your life.
You feel pulled to something more – but can’t quite name it.
You crave genuine connections in an increasingly disconnected world.
You’ve stood at a crossroads and chosen to keep going… or wish you had.
You’ve poured yourself into caring for others and forgotten what fills you up.

For readers of The School of Essential Ingredients, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and Tuesdays with Morrie: a novel about pilgrimage, the questions we carry, and the strangers who see us best.

The Pilgrim's Table is Book One of The Camino Chronicles, a series about the roads we walk - and the ones we have been afraid to begin.

Husband. Father. Backpacker. Pilgrim. Author.

Author Kevin Donahue began walking pilgrimage routes across Europe, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. in 2019. The host of the Sacred Steps Podcast, his work reflects a deep belief that the most meaningful journeys are measured not in miles but in the lives impacted.

Donahue's first novel, The Pilgrim's Table, debuted as both a #1 New Release and a #1 Best Seller on Amazon for Religious Travel. The book follows five pilgrims across the Camino de Santiago towards a communal meal on Spain's westernmost coast. What begins as a polite conversation over dinner deepens into laughter, confession, and unexpected grace. One by one, they realize their separate journeys have been asking similar questions all along. Not what have you accomplished? But who are you becoming? By dawn, the pilgrims will discover that the hardest part of any journey is not the walking. It's what comes after.

The second book in the Camino Chronicles series, The Pilgrim’s Letter, is planned for February 2027 with a third to follow by December 2027.

Kevin lives in Florida with his wife, son, and their two beagles, Otis and Larry.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Beyond the novel lies the real Camino de Santiago. Discover the history, traditions, and enduring spirit of one of the world’s greatest pilgrimage routes as you follow the paths that inspiredThe Pilgrim’s Table. Explore the Camino Francés, Camino Portugués, Camino del Norte, Via de la Plata, Camino Primitivo, and other historic routes across France, Spain, and Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Finisterre, and Muxía. Learn about pilgrim passports (credenciales), albergues, scallop shells, Cruz de Ferro, pilgrim blessings, cathedral traditions, and the culture that has drawn walkers for more than a thousand years. Whether you are planning your first Camino pilgrimage, preparing to walk to Santiago de Compostela, or reliving a life-changing journey, this companion offers authentic insight into the people, places, history, and spiritual heritage behindThe Pilgrim’s Table.

The Pilgrims’ Table is born from Spain’s legendary Camino de Santiago, but it is not simply a “Camino novel.” It is a story about grief, addiction, loneliness, hope, and the extraordinary way strangers sometimes see us best.

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Great novels give book clubs a silence between the questions, something to carry home, something to come back to. It is, after all, a novel about a small group of people sitting around a table.

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