The Shaman's Wife: A Mystical Journey of Surrender and Self-Discovery

What happens when spiritual surrender becomes self-abandonment—and a woman must learn to trust herself again?


After divorce and profound loss, successful entrepreneur Alicia M. Rodriguez accepts an invitation to Ecuador, altering the course of her life. There she enters the mysterious world of shamanic tradition—and falls in love with Napo, a charismatic and powerful shaman.


What begins as a journey of spiritual awakening becomes an extraordinary eight-year relationship. Alicia leaves behind the life she built in the United States, immersing herself in the landscapes and traditions of Ecuador, and dreaming of creating a healing center with the man she loves.


As love, spirituality, power, and dependence become increasingly entangled, Alicia confronts a more difficult initiation: recognizing the ways she has abandoned her own knowing and finding the courage to reclaim it. Her eventual departure from Ecuador takes her across another ocean to Portugal—but leaving is only the beginning. The deeper journey is learning to trust herself again.


The Shaman's Wife is an award-winning memoir about spiritual longing, love, intuition, identity, and the shadow side of surrender. Both mystical and unflinchingly human, it explores the subtle ways women give away their authority—and what becomes possible when they take it back.