Written in a warm, conversational style as if the author is sharing a cup of chai with the reader, Barbara Carmichael’s new travel memoir I’ve Come to Say Goodbye weaves its way through the people and places visited in her travels of India over the past ten years. Much of her story is based in the lake city of Udaipur, where she meets Tarun and his family, and it is through their eyes that she falls in love with India. Barbara’s friendship with Tarun strengthens with each visit.
Her adventures are many and varied. She is run over by a rickshaw in Jaipur; booked into a hotel in Delhi that is in its final stages of demolition and sleeps with her bag against the door while bricks fall around her. On a night train to Jodhpur, she awakes to find four men standing at the end of her bed watching her sleep. She takes a holiday with Tarun, his wife and young son. Little does she know that it will be the last time she will share with her Indian brother. When she receives the sad news of his death, she knows she must go back to Udaipur. It’s the only way she can say goodbye.
Book launch at The Book Room Byron – 6pm 8 Feb. Book reading followed by Q&A with author, Barbara Carmichael. www.barbaracarmichael.com.au
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