The Sheep Walker's Daughter

De: Sydney Avey

Narrado por: Lisa Copeland

A Korean War widow's difficult mother dies before revealing the identity of her daughter's father and his cultural heritage. As Dee sorts through what little her mother left, she unearths puzzling clues that raise more questions: Why did Leora send money every month to the Basque Relief Agency? Why is her own daughter so secretive about her soon-to-be published book? And what does an Anglican priest know that he isn't telling? All this head-spinning breaks a long, dry period in Dee's life. She might just as well lose her job and see where the counsel of her new spiritual adviser and the attentions of an enigmatic ex-coworker lead her.

The Sheep Walker's Daughter pairs a colorful immigrant history of loss, survival, and tough choices with one woman's search for spiritual identity and personal fulfillment. Dee's journey takes her through the Northern and Central California valleys of the 1950s and reaches across the world to the obscure Basque region of Spain. She will begin to discover who she is and why family history matters.

©2013 Sydney Avey (P)2013 Sydney Avey

Related to it a lot

There might be spoilers so don’t read if you want a fresh perspective to the story.

I lost my 101.5 year old grandpa in 2023 and since I have been reading books of the Basque people. I didn’t have my father so he raised me alongside my mom and grandmother. I look for pieces of what is basque; What made him basque; and pieces of who I am now. I really enjoyed this story because I found pieces of myself looking for who I am as the characters were in this book. I found that we are stubborn people and we take care of each other. I love how one character was helped raised by her grandparents. I related to that a lot. I grew up in the Central Valley and could relate to the locations. Also the descriptions of the basque dances were lovely. I got flash backs from all the picnics I went to. I admired the dancers capabilities.

I wished the reader had more animated of a voice and separated the mother and daughter’s section a bit better. Change of voice or something

Sheep Walker's Daughter

Would you listen to The Sheep Walker's Daughter again? Why?

I would probably listen again. The narrator read it well and I'd like to travel through the country and towns again. Good story and so descriptive!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dee.. She was so real. She was her own woman!

1950s California and Basque Region Spain

A gentle generational tale of the choices that people make and the long-lasting ramifications of them . . . secrets and love between mothers and daughters in a time very different than our own . . . and a father and a daughter, as well . . . I loved not only the story line, but the regional scenery of California in the '50s, including Carmel . . . the artsy, safe little community of folks was much the same way when we lived on the Monterrey coast in the '80s . . . I treasured the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit through Father Mike, the Anglican priest, a friend of Dee's late mother's . . . who unbeknownst to Dee had been a believer . . . and the way that the past eventually comes to light for both Dee and her daughter, Valerie, is like the unfolding of a fragile treasure . . . to be savored, individually, and then in due time, jointly . . . there is a sequel to The Sheep Walker's Daughter . . . its The Lyre and the Lambs . . . and I am listening to it next . . .