Holy Cow

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersFeisty, outspoken Sarah Macdonald made a firm decision after backpacking through India in her 20s: She would never return. India was a land of filth and desperation, and she was nearly free of it when, as she prepared to board her plane back to her Australian homeland, a beggar read her palm and declared that she'd be back; the next time, for love.And indeed, 12 years later, Macdonald abandons a successful career as a journalist to join her true love in teeming, polluted, noisy New Delhi. Shortly after her arrival, a bout with double pneumonia leaves her near death, but Macdonald handles her illness, as she does all her encounters, with an acerbic wit and acute powers of observation. But her experience yields a powerful lesson, and Macdonald returns to health with a newfound sense of mission: She must find peace in the only possible place -- within.For the next two years, Macdonald makes friends with a colorful cast of locals who educate her in the ways of their country. Seeking enlightenment and adventure, she visits gurus, attends religious festivals, and meditates, traveling to fantastic locales along the way. But in the end (holy cow!) Macdonald's most important spiritual breakthrough comes courtesy of a most unlikely source: her own heart. Our readers gave Holy Cow 16 Shiva thumbs up! (Summer 2004 Selection)