Title of the Book: A Long Way Home: A Memoir
Author: Saroo Brierley
# of Pages: 273
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Review:

Only five years old, lost and alone in one of the most populated countries in the world, surviving on the streets with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Life for many children in India is quite different than those in western civilizations. This young child would be left alone to look after his baby sister for hours, sometimes even days at a time, without adequate food or water. Becoming lost in the major, overpopulated, polluted city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) devastatingly, wasn’t uncommon among children in India which made it all the harder to find help. Saroo Brierley shares his experiences as well as what brought him back home nearly a quarter of a century later in his touching novel A Long Way Home: A Memoir.

All Saroo wanted was to learn more about the life of his older, often absent, brother, whom he looked up to, but finally convincing Guddu to bring him along to the train station where he worked changed Saroo’s life forever. After waking up from a quick nap on the platform, Saroo couldn’t find Guddu anywhere. He searched around the station and eventually on a train hoping to find him there. Before he knew it, the train took off and Saroo was trapped inside the carriage being hauled off to an unknown destination which ended up being Calcutta. Both the good of humankind and not-so-good sides are highlighted, like the homeless man who saved Saroo from drowning, and the chilling railway worker who had shady motives. With little language skills and a loss of trust, Saroo struggled to connect with anybody to ask for help. This memoir follows the journey of a petit five year old boy, as well as his adult self, trying to find what many called a lost cause - home.

A Long Way Home doesn’t conform to most memoirs. It offers the reader an interesting perspective that would otherwise go unthought of. Reading the viewpoint of a lost five year old boy is mentally challenging because you want to help him, but it is also extremely alluring. His story gives the voiceless a voice and inspires others to not give up and to believe in themselves despite what people say. Brierley was told that “finding [his] family is like finding a needle in a haystack”, but he didn’t give up because he knew “the needle was there” (TODAY.com). Brierley’s writing style allows the reader to connect with his story despite the other worldliness to it. I would, without a doubt, recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a new perspective on another culture, or simply wants to be inspired by this incredible journey of hope and persistence.

"'Lion' Inspiration Saroo Brierley Went through 'hell on Earth' before Reuniting with His Mother."   TODAY.com. N.p., 26 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.