In Movement There Is Peace - Elaine Orabona Foster/Joseph Wilbred Foster - A Short Summary & Review

 In Movement There Is Peace:  Stumbling 500 Miles Along the Way to the Spirit - Elaine Orabona Foster/Joseph Wilbred Foster - A Short Summary & Review

By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review

A couple's journey along the Camino de Santiago.

A short summary:

In Movement There Is Peace chronicles a married couple’s decision to walk the Camino de Santiago, a centuries-old pilgrimage that invites travelers into silence, repetition, and reflection. Elaine and Joseph Foster set out not just to complete a physical journey, but to step into a space where movement itself becomes a form of prayer.

As the miles unfold, the Camino reveals itself as both generous and demanding. The book weaves together landscape, history, fatigue, hospitality, and spiritual searching, showing how walking strips life down to essentials: food, shelter, companionship, and forward motion. Along the way, expectations fall away, replaced by an attentiveness to what is rather than what was planned.

This is a pilgrimage story rooted in presence, treating walking as a way of listening.

My favorite quote from the book:

"Staying locked into an image of how things are supposed to be can blind us to the grace of what is."

- Elaine Orabona Foster, In Movement There is Peace

Questions to ponder while reading:

What journey do you want to make with your spouse?

What journey do you want to make?

My review:

This memoir resonates because it understands the Camino not as a backdrop, but as a participant in the story. In Movement There Is Peace is as much about marriage as it is about miles, about how two people navigate uncertainty together, adjust expectations, and relearn how to move in rhythm.

The writing is gentle and inviting, allowing the journey to unfold without forcing meaning too quickly. What emerges is a quiet joy: the discovery that peace does not always arrive through stillness, but often through sustained, shared motion.

For readers who dream of making the Camino themselves, this book offers honest anticipation rather than fantasy. It does not promise transformation on demand, but it does promise that showing up, walking forward, and remaining open can change how we see both the road and each other.

It made me look forward to the journey, not as an escape, but as a way of paying closer attention.

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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

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