Backpack by Emily Barr

Backpack

Emily Barr

This is ideal reading for backpack wannabees. A travelogue, a mystery and a journey of self-discovery rolled into one. Funny and full of authentic descriptions of exotic places it will stir wanderlust in even the most armchair bound reader.

Extract
There is one tiny empty table, across the room. With so many sets of eyes upon me, I am conscious of every little movement I make. I am clumsy, gigantic, ungainly. I can feel the disapproval. I stumble between tables, edge between one seatback and another, and only just avoid walking straight into a waitress, who has stopped, her hands full of dishes, to look at me. I almost feel dizzy. I know I have gone beetroot red. When I reach my destination, I want to take a bow, but I resist the temptation, remembering that I am representing a skin colour, a continent, and an entire economic system. Best behaviour is called for. I am Tansy, the west’s ambassador to the Random Restaurant of Kunming.
Parallels
  • Losing Gemma by Katy Gardner
  • The Beach by Alex Garland
  • Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
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Violence
Explicit sexual content