
Geography of Heaven
Travels to the hereafter
Rory MacLean(Author)
Abacus (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 6. August 2026
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-349-14819-9 (ISBN)
Description
'A magnificent, heartfelt love story: a quest both ancient and entirely original' Jay Griffiths
'An epic of travel and a rich testament to an enduring love' Colin Thubron
Five years ago Rory MacLean set out on a path with no idea of where it would lead, of how long it would take or that his life would change forever. When his wife died, he couldn't imagine living without her. So he set out to find where she had gone.
Over the years he searched, tracing across history and around the globe mankind's ideas of the afterlife, seeking out places where the veil is thin. Places where our mortal world touched the divine. He spent a night on Jacob's Rock where the Biblical patriarch had seen a ladder to heaven. In Kerala, he watched gods walk on fire. On the Great Plains, he sundanced with the Lakota. At Jerusalem's Temple Mount, he laid his hand on the stepping stone to another world. In Delhi, he was told 'the universe will keep sending you loving souls to guide you on this journey' and it did, opening doors, revealing wonders beyond his imagination, until - in five truly inexplicable moments - his wife was beside him.
Geography of Heaven: Travels to the Hereafter is the story of that extraordinary journey, of moments of astonishment and awe, of steps taken with hope and love. Hope 'that leads to blissful end' wrote Dante. Hope that 'is of the joy to come' as the light from many a star. At the same time, his journey through grief is explained by the latest neuroscientific research. The result is a life-enhancing travel book like no other that leads to the realisation that none of us are created for naught.
'An epic of travel and a rich testament to an enduring love' Colin Thubron
Five years ago Rory MacLean set out on a path with no idea of where it would lead, of how long it would take or that his life would change forever. When his wife died, he couldn't imagine living without her. So he set out to find where she had gone.
Over the years he searched, tracing across history and around the globe mankind's ideas of the afterlife, seeking out places where the veil is thin. Places where our mortal world touched the divine. He spent a night on Jacob's Rock where the Biblical patriarch had seen a ladder to heaven. In Kerala, he watched gods walk on fire. On the Great Plains, he sundanced with the Lakota. At Jerusalem's Temple Mount, he laid his hand on the stepping stone to another world. In Delhi, he was told 'the universe will keep sending you loving souls to guide you on this journey' and it did, opening doors, revealing wonders beyond his imagination, until - in five truly inexplicable moments - his wife was beside him.
Geography of Heaven: Travels to the Hereafter is the story of that extraordinary journey, of moments of astonishment and awe, of steps taken with hope and love. Hope 'that leads to blissful end' wrote Dante. Hope that 'is of the joy to come' as the light from many a star. At the same time, his journey through grief is explained by the latest neuroscientific research. The result is a life-enhancing travel book like no other that leads to the realisation that none of us are created for naught.
Reviews / Votes
A magnificent, heartfelt love story: a quest both ancient and entirely original * Jay Griffiths * In an extraordinary enterprise of astonishing scope and moving devotion, Rory Maclean throws himself into experiencing the rituals of worldwide cultures where they engage with the afterlife. The result is an epic of travel and a rich testament to an enduring love * Colin Thubron * This is an astonishing book. It tells of the determination of love, its capacity to transcend and earth, its refusal to stop before the membrane between the lovers is breached and truth - real, felt, undeniable, unmanufactured truth - emerges. MacLean travels every path available to the interior and has the skill to describe them all * Claire Gilbert, author of I, Julian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-349-14819-9 (9780349148199)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
approx. 08/2026
Abacus
€14.99
Not yet available
Person
Rory MacLean is one of Britain's most expressive and adventurous non-fiction writers. His books - which have been translated into a dozen languages - include the UK top tens Stalin's Nose and Under the Dragon as well as Berlin: Imagine a City, 'the most extraordinary work of history I've ever read' according to the Washington Post which named it a Book of the Year. He has won awards from the Canada Council and the Arts Council of England and been nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary prize. 'MacLean must surely be the outstanding, and most indefatigable, traveller-writer of our time,' wrote the late John le Carre. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.