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Beyond Alice

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( 117 ratings, 40 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Beyond Alice by Tanya Heaslip is a captivating memoir that chronicles the author's journey from her childhood in the remote outback of Australia to the broader world beyond. It reflects on her early years filled with isolation and freedom, painted against the backdrop of red dust and endless skies. As she charts her path towards adulthood, Tanya explores themes of curiosity and longing, discovering new perspectives that extend beyond her familiar horizons.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this engaging memoir if you have a fascination for the Australian outback and personal tales of growth and exploration. The author shares her experiences of a life lived in a remote and vast landscape, offering insights into her adventures and resilience. This story may appeal to readers who appreciate themes of family, identity, and self-discovery.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

From the happiness and freedom of her bush childhood, Tanya Heaslip is sent to a boarding school sixteen hundred kilometres away from everything and everyone she loves. As these years pass surrounded by the friends she makes, Tanya's memoir is a humorous and inspiring story of strength, resilience and the realities of Australian outback life.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A tender, raw and beautiful coming-of-age adventure, that forces Tanya to pivot between the vast freedom of desert life, and the rigid expectations of city boarding school. From start to finish Beyond Alice is beguiling! - Renee McBryde, bestselling author of The House of Lies

In 1975, twelve-year-old Tanya Heaslip leaves her isolated home in outback Australia and is sent sixteen hundred kilometres south to a girls' boarding school for an education the bush can't provide.

The freedom of her young life gives way to an unfriendly world of stone and concrete, high walls, small skies, uniforms, harsh words, and endless rules that make no sense.

In common with many children of the outback, Tanya struggles to adjust to boarding school. Yet, over time, her fellow boarders become her new family and Tanya survives both by writing, and by telling her stories of family, race meetings, gymkhanas, campdrafts, and stock camps to her loyal friends.

Tanya's pain of losing family and the trauma of dislocation are ultimately transformed into five life-changing years. She emerges stronger and more resilient, now determined to carve out her own life.

Warm, humorous, and uplifting, this is the story of a small girl who triumphs.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Beyond Alice by Tanya Heaslip is praised for its joyful and resilient storytelling, reminiscent of classic literature connections. The memoir is described as a tender and raw coming-of-age adventure that juxtaposes the vastness of desert life with the structured environment of a city boarding school, keeping readers captivated throughout.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760879655

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 May 2021

Country: Australia

Imprint: Allen & Unwin

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 473g

Pages: 328

About the Author

Raised on an isolated cattle station north of Alice Springs during the 1960s and 70s, Tanya learnt about the outside world through the Correspondence School and School of the Air. She spent many hours dreaming of the overseas lands depicted in her childhood storybooks.

When she was twelve years old, she was sent sixteen hundred kilometres away from her outback home to a boarding school, a traumatic and life changing experience. From there, she became a lawyer. She never stopped dreaming, however, which led her to the Czech Republic to teach English in 1994, four years after the Berlin Wall fell.

Tanya has published Alice to Prague (2019), An Alice Girl (2020), and Beyond Alice (2021) is her third memoir.

Tanya still works in law and lives back in Alice Springs with her husband. Tanya is President of the NT Writer's Centre.

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  • An Alice Girl
    An Alice Girl is Tanya Heaslip's extraordinary story of growing up in the late 1960s and early 70s on a vast and isolated outback cattle property just north of Alice Springs. Tanya's parents, Janice and Grant "the Boss," were pioneers. They developed the cattle station where water was scarce, where all power was dependent on generators, and where a trip...
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