''Pilgrims Way'' is a novel by Abdulrazak Gurnah, first published in 1988 by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

in the United Kingdom. It is Gurnah's second novel. The protagonist of ''Pilgrims Way'' is Daud, an immigrant to England from Tanzania who works as an orderly in Canterbury in the 1970s. Daud experiences racist abuse from skinheads and others and begins to feel fearful and dejected as a result. Daud is named for the biblical figure David. Daud develops a romantic attachment to Catherine Mason, a nurse. Daud's other friends include Lloyd, a white man with racist tendencies, and Karta, a pan-African Black nationalist. Critic Jopi Nyman argues that ''Pilgrims Way'', like Gurnah's novels '' By the Sea'' (2001) and ''

Desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

'' (2005), evinces "an interest in the structures of feeling generated by migration and exile". Maria Jesus Cabarcos Traseira reads ''Pilgrims Way'' as a

pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

in which Daud is "transformed" through "moments of harmony with nature". Critics Ann Blake, Leela Gandhi, and Sue Thomas, comparing ''Pilgrims Way'' to ''

Dottie Dottie or Dotty is a feminine given name or nickname (most often a short form of Dorothy) which may refer to: People * Dottie Alexander (born 1972), keyboardist for of Montreal, an American indie pop band * Dotty Attie (born 1938), American pa ...

'' and ''Admiring Silence'' (1996), state that ''Pilgrims Way'' "take[s] up the damaging day to day experiences of migration and Black British identity, black Britishness". In ''Trinidad and Tobago Newsday'', Debbie Jacob writes: "Pilgrim’s Way demonstrates Gurnah’s remarkable restraint in presenting his characters’ stories. He is a master of that old piece of writing advice, 'Show, don’t tell.' Gurnah shows his characters’ complex lives and feelings without telling the reader what to feel or think. This evokes empathy while allowing readers to experience, however vicariously, the conflicts and ambiguity immigrants go through in their conflicted lives."

References

Sources

* * * 1988 novels Books by Abdulrazak Gurnah Jonathan Cape books {{1980s-novel-stub