I've been reading "Angel and Me" by Sara Maitland. So far I'd recommend it. It's still religious (don't seem able to get out of that) but in a different way. The first section is an account of the life of Abraham and Sarah trekking through the desert, from the point of view of Sarah: doing her duty of keeping life on the road against all the odds.
There are surely countless people enduring a very similar situation today.