A young man begins his career at a small pharmacy in Bloemfontein. But is this meaningless existence all that lies ahead for him in the next sixty years? By chance, he comes across writings by the fifteenth-century mystic Thomas À Kempis and begins to dream of an ascetic life as a monk. On the eve of his journey to a monastery in the French Alps, the young pharmacist discovers he has an estranged uncle who became a Catholic priest and now lives in the heart of Paris. Thus begins a precious friendship between a priest in Paris and a lost soul from the Free State. It is a tender novel about the search for identity, peace, and meaning, but above all, a pilgrimage toward self-acceptance.

Johannes de Villiers is a writer and meditation instructor at a yoga school in Bloemfontein. He leads workshops and weekend courses on meditation and mindfulness across the country. Johannes was a journalist for many years at Huisgenoot, Rapport, and Die Burger and was previously a lecturer in journalism at the University of Stellenbosch.