It's business as usual for Tavish McCaskill, a Canadian bookseller living in Geneva, until a strange customer comes to his shop with an even stranger book: an old Kabbalistic manuscript by a legendary rabbi that's supposedly been kept secret for five hundred years. At first, Tavish thinks it must be a forgery: why else would it include quantum equations that hadn't been developed until the 20th century? But closing this matter isn't as simple as closing a book—and Tavish's customer isn't the only person who's interested in this one.
Soon, Tavish is walking the ancient Pilgrim's path through Switzerland, trying to unravel the mysteries of the manuscript while running for his life. As he surrenders himself to the twists and turns of fate and of the path, Tavish grapples with the loss of his daughter, his strained relationship with his ex-wife, new acquaintances who flicker between friend and foe, and the intoxicating possibility that this Kabbalist text could hold the answers to it all.
"As much a tale about a midlife reawakening as it is about hope for an afterlife, Pilgrims of the Upper World is an eloquent, atmospheric mystery novel set in the rare book world." — Karen Rigby, Foreword Magazine
"In his third novel, Pilgrims of the Upper World, Jamieson Findlay combines Arthur Conan Doyle’s style of zigzagging detective fiction with a fast-paced quest narrative that recalls Raiders of the Lost Ark." — Alexander Dallas, Literary Review of Canada
"Pilgrims of the Upper World is a rare gem of a book." — Jacob Berkowitz, author of The Stardust Revolution: The New Story of Our Origin in the Stars
Jamieson Findlay is the author of two previous novels, The Blue Roan Child (2002) and The Summer of Permanent Wants (2011), both published by Doubleday Canada. He lives in Chelsea, Quebec.