Never Leave the Dogs Behind: A Memoir

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In this stunning and triumphant memoir, the author of the New York Times bestseller Nowhere for Very Long continues her story: a tale of a woman reckoning with the decision to live alone and unburdened in the desert Southwest, in a trailer without running water or electricity, with nothing to her name and no one for company except the four dogs in her pack.

In her debut memoir, Nowhere for Very Long, Brianna Madia reflected on her solitary life as a nomad, free to roam some of the most beautiful land in America. In Never Leave the Dogs Behind, the van life adherent and nature enthusiast faces unfathomable darkness, her only solace the support of her dogs.

Moving from her pared-down van into a pared-down trailer, Brianna reckons with her decision and what it means to be alone in the desert, living on a small patch of dirt on the dusty outskirts of a small town in Utah, accompanied by her four precious dogs, Bucket, Dagwood, Birdie, and Banjo, made famous on Brianas social media posts.

A powerful and poignant portrait of a life on the road less traveled, Never Leave the Dogs behind is about finding the courage to start over when the dream life you thought you were living collapses around your feet. Her remarkable insights on what is truly important in life hold profound meaning for us all.

Reviews

"Very few memoirs go as deep and honest asMadiasNever Leave the Dogs Behind, a brave and inspiring account of a young womans life being fired in a desert kiln. Amid the unrefined edges of canyon rock and unflinching sun, Madia somehow manages to mend a shattered heart via the remarkable bond she shares with her four-legged companions. I havent enjoyed a memoir this much sinceWild." Carol Dunbar, award-winning author ofThe Net Beneath Us "A searing metamorphosis. A book for those who know that to stay at the surface is to drown. It takes a brave soul to articulate, not the build-up of the heroines glorious fire, nor her rise from the ashes, but the actual sparring with flames, the soot-covered rumble in the cinders of herself. Bri is that soul, and her writing is a salve for those who are burning to be free." Steph Jagger, author of Unbound and Everything Left to Remember "An intimate memoir of shattering pain." Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Brianna Madia is a writer, adventurer, and desert-dweller. For the last several years, she and her now three pups Bucket, Dagwood, and Birdie call her big orange van, Bertha, home. An avid climber, canyoneer, mountain biker, kayaker, and explorer, Brianna believes in moving against the grain, embracing her true self, and trying all the things that scare you.