Journeys Home: Inspiring Stories, Plus Tips and Strategies to Find Your Family History

by Andrew McCarthy Narrated by Patrick Lawlor, Adam Verner, Shaun Grindell

Overview

Addressing the explosive growth in ancestral travel, this compelling narrative combines intriguing tales of discovery with tips on how to begin your own explorations. Actor and award-winning travel writer Andrew McCarthy's featured story recounts his quest to uncover his family's Irish history, while twenty-five other prominent writers tell their own heartfelt stories of connection.

Spanning the globe, these stories offer personal takes on journeying home, whether the authors are actively seeking long-lost relatives, meeting up with seldom-seen family members, or perhaps just visiting the old country to get a feel for their roots. A foreword by the Genographic Project's Spencer Wells sets the scene.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"It’s National Geographic, thus I need hardly to mention that the photos make you want to hit Trip Advisor, but the text, too, is mesmerizing." —Library Journal

"Journeys Home is part inspirational, part informational and written completely from the heart. If you long to know more about your family's past, but don't know why or how you should start your search, Journeys Home will motivate and encourage you to begin." —About.com

"This is a superbly interesting book that is liberally sprinkled with stunning images that are the hallmark of all National Geographic publications." —Apogeephoto.com

"Family secrets, mysteries, and lore are the impetus for the emotion-filled sojourns described in this beautifully illustrated essay collection and genealogy guide."
—Library Journal

"These 26 essays range from the prosaic (Illinois) to the mysterious (Tanzania), all with lovely color photos." —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"We’ve come to expect NatGeo travel guides to be arrestingly—no, beautifully—illustrated...but the [book's] beauty is matched by copious information brimming with heart and soul." —Booklist 

Library Journal

02/15/2015
Family secrets, mysteries, and lore are the impetus for the emotion-filled sojourns described in this beautifully illustrated essay collection and genealogy guide. The 26 essays, covering places as diverse as Scotland, Cambodia, Mexico, Italy, Japan, and India, open with one by travel writer and actor McCarthy, who describes his at-first-reluctant exploration of his Irish roots. Many of the other entries also recount traveling to a far-off country that was the home of the writer's ancestors, but others tell stories of going back home after a long period away—in the case of a man who escaped Cambodia as a refugee—or visiting a family homestead in a different locale in one's own country, in the case of an American who finds her Midwestern roots. Whatever the story, each writer describes a moment when confusion, sadness, or detachment fell away and they knew they belonged. For readers who sense similar longings, each entry comes with sidebars on exploring the culture of the place by cooking its food, listening to its music, or even visiting. The book closes with a useful how-to on investigating your origins; general information comes first, in subsections such as "Talk to Your Elders" and "Get a DNA Test" and is followed by country-specific advice relating to the nations visited in the writings. VERDICT This poignant and information-filled travelog and genealogy primer is ideal for public libraries.—Henrietta Verma, Library Journal

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169663433
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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