Author Name:
Lindy Hughes
Book Titles:
The Common Wife: Getting Lost, Dancing Naked & Collecting Seashells
It Never Stays in Vegas
Website URL:
Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/lindypfeil/
Link to book page on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Common-Wife-Getting-Collecting-Seashells/dp/098135081X/
What is your book about?
When Lindy’s husband discovers that she has been living a secret life as a burlesque dancer, the glitter hits the fan. Perimenopause (whatever that is) does not help, and Lindy finds herself in some curiously compromising situations. There is Thor, the stuntman from Texas, Satya with the dreadlocks and camper van, beautiful Adam, and the Crazy.
In the midst of a hot flush, Lindy remembers her destiny (bestowed on her by Father Ignatius at Catholic school when she was fifteen years old) to save the world. So, on her fifty-first birthday, she tells her husband that she can no longer be married. She needs to find her Big Life, the one that doesn’t include a picket-fence house in the suburbs with a minivan in the driveway. Since her husband is, above all, a practical man, he suggests that she go for a walk to think about things before making any final decisions.
Forgetting that she doesn’t like walking, Lindy heads to Northern Spain with her purple backpack, Petunia. With blistered toes and a swollen ankle, she stomps along the sacred soil of the Camino de Santiago in search of God (if he exists), forgiveness (if that is possible), and herself (whomever the hell that is). With no guidebook and no sense of direction, she gets lost. Very lost. In that lostness, she is forced to stare the serpent in the eye, have it out with Jesus, and face her naked truth.
This is the audaciously honest, irreverent memoir of one woman’s pilgrimage to the Ends of the Earth.
What inspired you to write your book?
My midlife crisis. And my subsequent pilgrimage. I am a restorative justice practitioner, working in schools, and my 12-year-old students gave me a bunch of questions written on index cards to take with me on my Camino (they said I would need something to keep my head occupied while I walked): one question per card. Each morning, I picked a card (carried in a baggie in Petunia, my backpack) and would read it aloud to whomever I happened to be walking with that day. I was not intending to write a book about my pilgrimage, but the answers to these questions were so surprising, and the process of stomping across sacred soil so magical, that the questions became the spine of my memoir.
If you have a business related to your book, tell us about it:
I help people find the magic in their stories. I do this through group writing workshops (The Life Writing Lab), and with private clients writing their life stories.
What is a typical day like for you?
I wake up, light a candle, say a prayer, and shuffle my tarot deck. Every day, I write a little, dance a little, and sit in circle listening to unheard stories. I feel like the luckiest person alive.
What do you most enjoy about what you do?
Making space for unheard voices to finally be heard in the world, is the most enormous privilege. I love seeing the awe in people’s faces when they realise how incredible their stories are, and that with a different perspective, we are each the hero of our own stories.
What are some favorite books you’d recommend to our readers? 
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell
Pretty Things by Virginie Despentes
Outlawed by Anna North
The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas
What advice do you have to offer our readers?
If you have a story burning to be told, don’t wait. Sit down and write it! Even if you think it’s been told a hundred time before. Because no one sees the world the way you see it.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I walk barefoot whenever and wherever I can, even though I live in Canada (and even though – or perhaps because –it embarrasses my family.)
What’s next for you?
The third book in a series of community stories (for which I have received a grant), this one with a “wellness” theme, in collaboration with my local library. I’m excited to hear how the humans in my community find joy, meaning and happiness in their lives.
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