Recent reviews of my book: Pilgrimage on the Path of Love:

"I loved this book. Pilgrimage on the Path of Love is one of those rare novels that manages to combine great storytelling with genuine and profound spiritual insights and experiences in a completely natural way. The essence of the book is about the search for the truth of life, and for supreme love, both human and divine.

Written in autobiographical style, I found the prose so vivid and immediate, that I really entered into the experiences of the narrator, Shantila Martin, an American woman writer living in the UK. She visits India for the publication of her first book, and finds herself on an unexpected journey.

Her experiences of the vibrancy of Indian life in Delhi, and later in Manali and Ladakh, are vividly depicted, and descriptions of the scenery of the Himalayas are breathtaking, reminding me of the wonderful paintings of Nicholas Roerich. The writing is so alive that we feel every bump in the road, every intense discomfort of life in this extraordinary country, and all Shantila’s responses. We are also able to share in her experiences of its astonishing beauty and spirituality, and enjoy her many meetings with interesting and remarkable people.

There is real spiritual poetry in this book, in the descriptions of nature, and in Shantila’s profound experiences during her visits to Temples and Monasteries, often reverberating with the devotional chanting of Buddhist monks. The descriptions of the transcendental nature of her own meditation are beautiful, and one feels this must be the first hand experience of the author.

As the book gains momentum, all of her experiences together - painful, blissful and reflective, combine to help her unfold deeper and deeper layers of realisation of the true nature of love, and of the ultimate unity of all life. I feel it’s a strength of the book that the narrator is depicted as a woman with normal vulnerabilities, rather than as a superwoman. It shows that genuine desire for spiritual growth can transform all our lives to higher states of consciousness.

This book was a really inspiring read. It’s a heartfelt book - full of enjoyment of the beauty of life, and a celebration of the highest spiritual values of human consciousness and its relationship to the Divine. I missed it when I had finished it, and am looking forward to more from this author."

Sally Brighouse,UK


"I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The style was graceful without calling a lot of attention to itself. I liked and cared about our heroine and found all the characters believable. Lama Tashi in particular was well drawn. The bittersweet ending was convincing and appropriate. A fine novel."

Andrew Archer, UK

" Whether you read this book or not, this is a journey everyone is going to have to take. Truthful, touching, vulnerable always to an impossible ideal, until that ideal undergoes its inevitable transformation and finds fulfillment. You can't imagine this story, it has to have been lived. Beautifully and honestly told."

HWB, UK

"This is an excellent first novel. It is well written with a multi-layered plot all on the theme of love in different ways. It is part travelogue and part story."

Barry Spivack, UK

Love Saves Us From Wrong And Guides Our Path In Life

"Pilgrimage on the Path of Love" is the story of Shantila, a courageous woman, travelling alone in India in search for the true meaning of life. The path she follows is the path of love. With almost no money in her pockets, she lets all-knowing mother nature guide her each and every step and provide meaningful experiences very useful for individual evolution.

Shantila falls in love with a Tibetan buddhist lama, only to find out that this kind of personal love has to develop into unbounded universal love. Universal love and knowledge, which the ancient Rishis of India express in the words: “Aham Brahmasmi, Tat tvam asi, Sarvam kalv idam Brahm” - [I am Brahm (Totality), Thou art That, All this is Brahm]. By the grace of God, Shantila is blessed with glimpses of this exalted state of consciousness, filling her heart with love for whole creation.

"Pilgrimage on the Path of Love" is written by Barbara Ann Briggs in skilfully refined and easily flowing words. The reader will be absorbed in adventurous real-life stories, leading to deeper understanding of progress and evolution towards the highest goal.

Dr. Herbert Gerstendorf

Teacher of Transcendental Meditation

Member of Maharishi Sahasrashirsha Purusha Programm

Uttarkashi, India