TRACKS
One Woman’s Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback
By: Robyn Davidson
Published: May 30, 2995
Publisher: Vintage
Non-Fiction, Memoir
US Movie Release: September 19, 2014
If you read and loved WILD by Cheryl Strayed, you will like TRACKS too. Both books share a woman who impulsively decides to take on a thousand-plus mile hike without previous knowledge or experience. Check out my review of WILD, HERE. In Davidson’s case, she decides to trek across the deserts of Australia with four camels. Davidson had no previous experience with camels or hiking across the desert. Yet, she decides to take on this challenge and does it with great fortitude.
When describing the camels, Davidson talks about them saying,
I read this book over a period of six months because I didn’t really have a deadline and at times the pace of the story was a little slow for me. Davidson fills in lots of detail regarding the care and training of camels, their caretakers, and her challenges with obtaining the camels. At times there was information overload, but her stories of the people, especially the Aboriginal people, were interesting and written with much love for them. I appreciated the progression of Davidson’s character through her journey. She was meek and people pleasing at the beginning and by the end her eyes were open, her opinions were shared and she found a way to experience true joy. Davidson gives us a unique view of the beauty of the Australian land and their people. Her journey is physically and emotionally grueling, heartfelt, and real. You will be captivated and inspired.
The movie version of TRACKS will hit US theaters on September 19, 2014. It is already available in other countries.
Robyn Davidson made this trek across the Australian desert in 1977. She was born on a cattle property in Queensland, Australia. She went to Sydney in the late sixties, then spent time studying in Brisbane before moving to Alice Springs, where the events of this book begin. Since then, she has traveled extensively, living in London, New York, and India. In the early 1990s, she migrated with and wrote about nomads in northwestern India. She is now based in Melbourne, but spends several months a year in the Indian Himalayas.
To purchase a copy of TRACKS, click the photo below:
Posted Under Book Review, book to movie, memoir, non-fiction, Robyn Davidson