Woman Alone: A Six Month Journey Through the Australian Outback

by Angel Leya

Overview

For fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.

At twenty-seven, Laine Cunningham seemed to have it all: tons of friends, a college degree, plenty of all-night parties, and a secure job. Yet every morning she dragged herself through a life that was corporatized and overly industrialized, a life that falsely glamorized everything she was supposed to want.

Guided only by a map pulled from an old copy of National Geographic, she camped in the Australian Outback for six months…and she did it alone.

Traveling in a time before Expedia or Travelocity, and without any guidebook or travel guide from Lonely Planet, the trip was never intended to be a vacation. Instead, it was a search for something deeper, something that lay inside. Cheap plane tickets or the cost of the airfare were far less important than the investment Laine made in herself.

The self-guided adventure tour around the country covered nearly 17,000 miles. Hostels were preferred to hotels, and then only when camping under the stars wasn’t an option. Otherwise, her best accommodation was the red sand and her only travel guide was her instinct about where on the map to explore next.

Told with warm humor and sparked with suspense, the search revealed a woman's most important discovery: herself.

Laine Cunningham, a three-time recipient of The Hackney Award, writes fiction that takes readers around the world. Her debut novel, The Family Made of Dust, is set in the Australian Outback, while Reparation is a novel of the American Great Plains. She is the editor of Sunspot Literary Journal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998224039
Publisher:	Sun Dogs Creations
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	899 KB

About the Author

Laine Cunningham is a novelist and a three-time recipient of The Hackney Award. The Family Made of Dust, set in the Australian Outback, considers how indigenous lives thrive despite oppression. Reparation is a contemporary novel of the American Great Plains. Her short prose has been published by Reed, Birmingham Arts Journal, Fiction Southeast, Wraparound South, and a forthcoming edition of Military Experience&the Arts. She is the senior editor and publisher of Sunspot Literary Journal, a multinational publication seeking to change the world.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Touchdown, Sydney

Orphan

The Way to a Galah's Heart

Road Robbers

Woman Alone

Opal Fever

Crystal Fire

Seventy Feet Under

Frontier Justice

Death in the Fields

Noodling

Burgers and Donuts

Krispy Kreme

Dingo Fence

Lady Emu

God's Girlfriend

Snack Food

As Bad as All That

Taking Flight

Camp Tunes

Uluru

An Education

A Wild Companion

The Locals

Mapping the Wilderness

Temporary Companion

Aussie Fables

Precious Gifts

Beautiful Sites with Beautiful Sights

Cradle Rocker

Bloody Tourists

The Clever Man

Stolen Children

Silence

Killer Caterpillars

Bush Tucker

Witchetties

Waiting

Man Alone

Road Crew

White Ants

Red Glow

Lakeview

Steaks and Snakes

Assistant Rancher

Tipping at Windmills

Thirst

A Killing

Muster

The Good Life

Shag on a Rock

Cat for Dinner

Stinging Nasties

Paradise

Grandfather

Careless Breaths

A Helping Hand

American Dreaming

Frog Juice

A Manly Yam

Fifty Million Bushflies

Crocodile Snack

Sea Snake

Guerilla Travel

Please Don't Squeeze the Dolphins

Razor Fish

Car Park

Saying Goodbye

A Free Sample From Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages From Aboriginal Australia

A Free Sample From The Family Made of Dust: A Novel of Loss and Rebirth in the Australian Outback

Other Works by Laine Cunningham

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

REVIEW BY WRITER'S DIGEST EBOOK AWARD JUDGE, JAN 2018

Many people fantasize about getting away from it all a la EAT PRAY LOVE. At the relatively tender age of 27, author Laine Cunningham walked the walk, scrapping her restrictive but high-paying corporate job and seemingly secure lifestyle, camping for six months in the Australian outback.

WOMAN ALONE is the product of that adventure and is a fine addition to the woman on her own category of memoirs. Each short chapter is an unpretentious, entertaining and well-preserved slice of life, whether they be misadventures with Australian cuisine, animal mishaps or the many questionable characters she meets along the way.

Lively, pithy characterizations and descriptions put the reader right on the scene. The Outback is also full of hidden dangers, as she readily acknowledges but has the good sense to mostly avoid. "It would take me ten years to circle back and close out the last of the Outback's lessons," she writes at the end. As a travelogue and as an impetus "to launch you onto your own path," to use the author's words, it succeeds.

REVIEWS OF OTHER WORKS BY LAINE CUNNINGHAM

"Laine Cunningham combines tenacity and courage along with profound insight. Her bravery is contagious. I keep Laine's books on a special shelf in my library, referring to them when I need inspiration." Pamela King Cable, Author, The Sanctum and Televenge

"The fact that Laine Cunningham spent six long months on her own in the Australian outback before writing this book leant a rich authenticity to her voice as she shared from her abundantly full, and talented, heart." Leah Griffith, Author, Cosette's Tribe

"Demonstrates a mastery of psychological introspection and an uncanny feel for the spirit of place." James Jones Literary Society

"Mesmerizing and meaningful and inspiring." Grady Harp, Vine Voice

"An exceptional writer as well as a master storyteller." Edmund R. Shubert, Author and Editor for Tor

"An affirmation of life." Shirley, Goodreads Reviewer

"I thought this book would be a quick read, but I found myself lingering, absorbing the message ... I found this book to be both entertaining and informative, one I will probably reread quite a few times." Dena Harris, Author

From the Publisher