By Madelyn Reichert, OSV News
“A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory: A Novel”
Michael Norton, Ignatius Press (2022)
269 pages, $15.36
“To die would be an awfully big adventure.” — J. M. Barrie, “Peter Pan.”
So runs the epigraph of the first chapter of “A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory: A Novel.” In terms of adventure, the author, Michael Norton, does not disappoint. For a story with a foregone conclusion, the road to heaven nonetheless takes many turns for its main character, an erstwhile family man and lawyer from St. Paul by the name of Dan Geary.
Although Dan appears at first to be an everyman — former husband, father and dog-lover, not exactly unusual traits — it gradually becomes apparent to the reader that, as a proper “every man,” he is a fully unique individual. The first defining character trait the reader encounters marks the course of the novel: Dan is a hiker, and to him purgatory has manifested itself as a terrain of verdant meadows and soaring snow-topped mountains. Norton’s skill in describing the landscape of purgatory is apparent from the first few pages; several times throughout the novel this reviewer had to slow down and reread a paragraph simply to admire the scenery.
It’s said that in a good poem the form emphasizes the content; likewise, Norton’s terrain is not mere window dressing but rather mirrors Dan’s internal journey as he begins his trek through purgatory. Early in the novel Norton makes clear the purpose of the hike metaphor: Purgatory here is not some dreary jailhouse realm where middling souls “do the time” for their earthly crimes, but rather a preparatory challenge to strengthen them for the glories of heaven.
The hike isn’t all sunshine and meadows, however, and while Dan might start in the sunny grasslands, greeted by (who else?) his childhood labrador, Buddy, he soon finds himself encountering deeper woods and steeper trails. The reviewer is also pleased to note that Dan is no hapless blank slate who needs everything explained to him; he quickly figures out, for example, that the helpful park ranger “Rafe” is an archangel, and understands the metaphor of his journey just as easily as the reader does. As such, what might have otherwise felt like a parable instead becomes a character-driven story in its own right, as Dan explores the afterlife via paths which, for better or worse, he takes of his own agency.
One can imagine a lesser version of this novel in which “a hike through purgatory” is used to skim over a handful of terrestrial mistakes and sinful periods, rendering the story ham-fisted and saccharine. Like Dan, however, Norton takes the harder path, deftly balancing the inherent pathos of the setting with a sometimes-discomforting vulnerability in its examination of Dan’s past in particular and the human condition in general.
Particularly moving in the early chapters is Dan’s difficulty with prayer, which it seems is no less awkward to him in purgatory than on Earth. Other characters encountered on his path also bear their own wounds and weaknesses, and the story’s refusal to take the easy way out makes its necessarily happy conclusion feel earned, rather than perfunctory. Prayer itself becomes a throughline of the novel, at first subtly and then explicitly weaving these former sinners into a communion of aspiring saints.
It’s never an easy task to write about the afterlife, but Norton’s reimagining of Dante’s “Purgatorio” as a great hike toward the highest of peaks makes for an engaging and poignant narrative. If you’re getting a touch of cabin fever this January, “A Hiker’s Guide to Purgatory” is the perfect breath of fresh air.
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Madelyn Reichert is publications administrative coordinator at The Catholic Spirit, the official publication of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.