Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Gelman, 2001, * * * *

In a small cemetery deep in the jungle of Borneo, two men climb into a freshly dug hole and retrieve the bones of a long-dead grandmother. An American guest joins the procession from the cemetery to the elaborately decorated village square for a traditional ceremony that will properly send Grandma off on her journey to the next world.  A few years earlier the American guest, Rita Golden Gelman, a children's book author and the mother of two grown children, was living in a comfortable suburban home, dining in elegant restaurants, and attending glamorous parties and only dreamed of traveling to exotic places and experiencing other cultures. When her marriage failed, she decided to live her dream, sold all her possessions and, at  forty-eight, took off to see the world.   Although she's not athletically gifted or independently wealthy, Rita has climbed mountains, paddled up rivers, and subsisted for a year on what many people spend in a few months.  In Tales of a Female Nomad, Rita shares how she has created a spectacular life, filled with interesting people, enlightening experiences, and fascinating adventures.  She's observed orangutans in the rain forests of Borneo, served as an unofficial tour guide in the Galapagos, taught herself the Indonesian language, and forged many lasting cross-cultural friendships.  Dynamic, vivacious, and a marvelous weaver of tales, Rita celebrates her glorious transformation from an unfulfilled suburbanite to a liberated and incredibly self-assured woman of the world. More than a travel memoir, Tales of a Female Nomad is the story of a woman's rebirth which proves beyond a doubt that anyone can cast away the burdens of conventional life at any age and continue — or begin — to thrive.  I know most people rave about Eat, Pray, Love but for those, like me, who never gravitated to that book,  this is a truly remarkable read that deserves recognition.

The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, 1995 * * * *

On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese painter, named Stephen, is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant and shore light – it will be quiet and solitary. He is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener, and the “samurai” of the title – a man devoted to finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world. Stephen is a noble student.  Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secrets and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soulmate, Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.  But it is the four local residents he meets - a lovely young Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Stephen has his own adventures, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you a long time.