A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley is a powerful memoir. As a poor child in India, Brierley accidently travels to Calcutta by train. Far from home and unable to find his way back, he’s adopted by an Australian couple shortly thereafter. Brierley is raised by a caring family in Australia and makes a life for himself there. He’s not unhappy, but longs to see his family in rural India.

Brierley’s clear and simple writing stands in nice contradistinction to the awesome, incredible nature of his life. This is a moving, wonderful book that I didn’t want to put down.

When I purchased this book, I was looking for something different. The cover prominently notes that the book was a ‘#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER’ and that it will ‘SOON BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE.’

It’s not hard to understand why this work has received such high praise. This is an honest story of pain, struggle, hope and love. He concludes the book on a reflective note: “It is sometimes difficult not to imagine some forces at work that are beyond my understanding. While I don’t have any urge to convert that into religious belief, I feel strongly that from my being a little lost boy with no family to becoming a man with two, everything was meant to happen just the way it happened. And I am profoundly humbled by that thought.”

Brierley’s journey is inspirational and deeply moving; it’s another reminder of how potent passion and the human spirit actually are.