Backpack - Softcover

Barr, Emily

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452282934 ISBN 13: 9780452282933

Publisher: Plume, 2001

Synopsis

In the wake of her mother's death, Tansy, a disillusioned Londoner, abandons her miserable boyfriend, trendy friends, and hotshot media job to find herself on a backpacking trip through Asia. A first novel. Original.

About this title

About the Author

Emily Barr has written columns and travel pieces for London's Observer and The Guardian; she also spent a year traveling in Asia. Backpack, a bestseller in England, is her first novel.

Reviews

Giving the tired single-girl school of fiction a much-needed shot in the arm, Barr concocts a stylish, astringent antidote to the usual sugary fare. Liberated by her alcoholic mother's death, Tansy Harris plans a yearlong tour of Asia with her off-again-on-again boyfriend, Tom. When he backs out, Tansy decides that traveling solo will be fabulous: she will meditate, she will do yoga, she will develop a new cosmopolitan persona. Of course, her journey does not go as planned. The Asia that Tansy finds is impoverished, malodorous and unfashionable not at all like the Asia she has seen in travel magazines. Disappointed and lonely, she befriends a group of backpackers, a species of traveler she disdains for their lack of style (as the title suggests, this attitude will be dramatically revised). These nomads help Tansy to understand and enjoy her surroundings; they also lead her to a delightful new man named Max, although Tansy regards her tryst with him as a holiday fling. Tom is her true love never mind that Max is generous and loving while Tom is nasty and self-absorbed. This tangle gives the novel a romantic spin, but it also prods Tansy into some much-needed introspection. There is a murder mystery thrown in, which could be intrusive but is intriguing and deftly woven into the plot. While tragedy never overburdens the story, Tansy's reliance on alcohol and drugs is candidly depicted, as is her unhappy relationship with her mother. Caustically hilarious and very entertaining, the novel carries emotional impact without schmaltz and rises above the usual Britpop fluff. Barr's is a welcome new voice. (Jan.)Forecast: This debut was a bestseller in Britain, and word of its charms should spread quickly.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Following her mother's funeral, Tansy winds up in the hospital after overdosing on cocaine and alcohol. Soon after, the 28-year-old party-girl decides she needs a change and plans a year-long trek through Southeast Asia with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Tom. He characteristically backs out at the last minute, but Tansy decides to go anyway, and in the end, she gets more than she bargained for. From the moment she arrives in Saigon, she is forced to shed her preconceived notions about people, herself included. She examines her own dependency on alcohol and drugs, falls in love with someone she initially dismissed, and becomes increasingly afraid she is somehow linked to a string of murders of female backpackers in cities on her itinerary. Tansy's first-person narrative is interspersed with e-mails between her and her friends and family, and although at first this device seems gimmicky, it becomes integral to the plot. Barr mixes many elements--adventure, romance, mystery--and successfully juggles them in a fast-paced and enjoyable tale. Beth Warrell
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0452282934
• ISBN 13: 9780452282933
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 310