Travel Narratives

Dyer was a talented young writer and determined to write a study of D.H.Lawrence. But when he sat down to write the book, he found himself distracted by ...everything!
Welcome to the world of Dyer! Gripped by indecision at every turn, he agonises over where to settle down to write, whether or not he should move in with his almost-girlfriend, and even which edition of Lawrence's poems to pack in his rucksack.
In Out of Sheer Rage Dyer travels the world, providing fascinating insights into Lawrence's life and the continui... read more

Our modern society is very particular about what constitutes good food: local, seasonal, organic produce that doesn't overly impact on the environment. But throughout history every generation has believed that it alone knows the true value of food, and looked with distaste on the culinary practices of its predecessors. Not so long ago eating food from around the world was the mark of the cultural sophisticate.
In The Table Comes First Adam Gopnik envisions a new 'physiology of taste' which will enable us to dispense with this... read more

Two old school friends reconnect unexpectedly after thirty-five years and discover that they both love travelling - and the more exotic and far-flung the location, the better! Not having a clue whether they will get along, and realising each other's well-developed eccentricities could make things even more fraught, the pair embarks on a trial journey to Morocco to see if they can survive the stresses of travelling into the unknown. They soon discover their delight in laughing at themselves and each other, and quickly rekindle their... read more

From Amsterdam to Cambodia, from Rome to Indonesia, from New Orleans to Libya, and from Detroit to Ko Pha-Ngan, Geoff Dyer finds himself both floundering about in a sea of grievances and finding moments of transcendental calm. This aberrant quest for peak experiences leads, ultimately, to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where, to quote Tarkovsky's Stalker, 'your most cherished desire will come true'.

In his new book, Colin Thubron travels to Tibet, and takes the pilgrimage route to Kailas, the most sacred of the world’s mountains, holy to one fifth of the earth’s people, but rarely visited by westerners. Buddhists and Hindus have ritually circled the mountain for centuries, but its steepest slopes are sacrosanct and no one has ever climbed to the summit. Thubron made the expedition shortly after his mother’s death, and his hike through a challenging terrain of rocks, lakes and remote monasteries is perhaps one... read more

Few activites seem to promise us as much happiness as going travelling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel to, we seldom ask why we go and how we might become more fulfilled by doing so. With the help of a selection of writers, artists and thinkers - including Flaubert, Edward Hopper, Wordsworth and Van Gogh - Alain de Botton's bestselling The Art of Travel provides invaluable insights i... read more

'The chocolate centre flows like dark lava onto the whiteness of the plate. The last ounce of stress drains from my body ...I have discovered the French version of Death by Chocolate.'Part love story, part wine-splattered cookbook, Lunch in Paris is a deliciously tart, forthright and funny story of falling in love with a Frenchman and moving to the world's most romantic city - not the Hollywood version, but the real Paris, a heady mix of blood sausage and irregular verbs. From gutting her first fish (with a little help from Jane Au... read more

Thrust into the unlikely role of professional "literary walking tour" guide, an expat writer provides the most irresistibly witty and revealing tour of Paris in years.
In this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and long- time Paris resident John Baxter remembers his yearlong experience of giving "literary walking tours" through the city. Baxter sets off with unsuspecting tourists in tow on the trail of Paris's legendary artists and writers of the past. Along the way, he tells the history of Paris through a brilliant cast of ... read more

'This isn't like me. I'm not the sort of girl who crosses continents to meet up with a man she hardly knows. Paris hadn't even been part of my travel plan a' After backpacking her way around Europe journalist Sarah Turnbull is ready to embark on one last adventure before heading home to Sydney. A chance meeting with a charming Frenchman in Bucharest changes her travel plans forever. Acting on impulse, she agrees to visit Fr d ric in Paris for a week. Put a very French Frenchman together with a strong-willed Australian girl and the ... read more

Indochine sees Red Lantern's Luke Nguyen revisit his beloved Vietnam and seek out the food and cultural remnants of this former French colonial empire. On his regular visits to Vietnam today, Luke is often struck by the appearance of people wearing berets, speaking French and the aromas of coffee and butter emanating from cafes and patisseries. The recipes and accompanying stories in Indochine showcase the French influence upon Vietnamese history and cuisine. Against a backdrop of grand colonial hotels, bars, restaurants and terrac... read more

Granta has long been known for the quality of its travel writing. The 1980s were the culmination of a golden age, when writers including Paul Theroux and Bruce Chatwin, James Hamilton-Paterson and James Fenton set out to document life in largely unfamiliar territory, bringing back tales of the beautiful, the extraordinary and the unexpected. By the mid 1990s, travel writing seemed to change, as a younger generation of writeres that appeared in the magazine made journeys for more complex and often personal reasons. Decca Aitkenhead ... read more

Gods of the Stones retraces the steps of famed English travel writer H.V. Morton who undertook a series of journeys in the 1930s to the great religions and historical sites of the Middle East. Morton's focus was the beginnings of Christianity, but he also observed the daily lives and traditions of the people he met along the way. The three books that emerged from these travels cemented his reputation as one of the greats of his genre and are still in print today. In 2009 New Zealand travel writer Peter Riordan set off in t... read more

Sicily, It's Not Quite Tuscany is a captivating tale of an Italian sea change. Over the course of 12 romantic months, two Australian newlyweds restore a rundown villa in a rustic corner of Italy, seeking the very essence of la dolce vita, stamping their entwined feet in vats of Chianti grapes, hosting boisterous Sunday lunches, and...Actually, stop right there, because although the author and his wife did go to Italy for a sea change they had quite the opposite experience, neither restoring a villa, nor stamping on any grapes. Inst... read more

Ibn Battutah set out in 1325 from his native Tangier on the pilgrimage to Mecca. By the time he returned twenty-nine years later, he had visited most of the known world, travelling three times the distance Marco Polo covered. Spiritual backpacker, social climber, temporary hermit and failed ambassador, he braved brigands, blisters and his own prejudices. The outcome was a monumental travel classic. Captivated by this indefatigable man, award-winning travel writer Tim Mackintosh-Smith set out on his own eventful journey, retracing t... read more

My Amalfi Coast is a loving memoir of the place Amanda called home for so many years, and a guide packed with insider's tips on where to eat, stay, shop and visit. Amanda takes us to the very heart of a region where the splendour of the scenery is more than matched by the warmth and charm of the people. Along the way we are invited to share Amanda's own story: the holiday that led to a love affair, which in turn inspired her to trade a glamorous fashion career in Florence for bare feet, a bikini and a beautiful man in the jewel-lik... read more

Paris in Love chronicles one joyful year in which a woman literally leaves her worries behind and runs away to one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world, albeit with her husband and two teenaged children in tow. Eloisa James had lived vicariously for years through the heroines of her bestselling historical romances. But after a year of life-changing events , she decides it is time to live someone else's life so she sells her house, takes a sabbatical from her university job, and moves her family to Paris to focus... read more

Villa Donnafugata is a magnificent ruined castle in the mountains of Sicily. The elderly, imperious yet still beautiful patron of the Villa, Tosca Brozzi, tells Marlena de Blasi the story of her life-long love story with the last prince of Sicily. De Blasi's magical storytelling gives us an epic drama of love, grief, beauty, joy and pain.

'We gazed transfixed across the small, strangely tropical bay at the bottom of the hill, and the surrounding palm trees and sandy beaches. Beyond the bay was the wide expanse of the Saronic Gulf, with its distant traffic of boats leaving for the islands and returning to the port at Piraeus.' This was Sofka Zinovieff's first sight of the view from Eurydice Street. It was so irresistible that she and her husband immediately knew that they would make their home there. Sofka had fallen in love with Greece as a student, but little suspe... read more

This is an impressionistic account of Christine Jordis' journeys to the Indonesian islands of Bali and Java. Jordis describes famous monuments, native dances, and encounters with locals. She conjures up literary and artistic figures who sought refuge in Indonesia and brings ancient legends to life. Trade Paperback

Every Italian cook has a soffritto - the 'starter kit' of olive oil, garlic and herbs from which a great dish is built. Lucio Galletto was in search of the soffritto of his life. He'd grown up between the tables of a restaurant built by his family on a beach in north west Italy. He had moved to Australia for love, and launched two successful restaurants. Now Lucio goes home again to recover what he may have lost in translation - an emotional journey that introduces the fishermen, farmers, cooks, winemakers, shepherds, hunters, wait... read more