Desert Places

I could not put this book down. Very thought provoking. An excellent read. A remarkable woman.

I spent 2 years in India in the late 90s and this book began making its' way around the ex-pat crowd in the middle of my stay there. The word of mouth reviews were universally positive. While most of us didn't go through the extreme day to day challenges Ms. Davidson put herself through, we went through enough to completely empathize with her plights. Her eloquent descriptions of the often unending and unyielding discomforts imposed by India while, at the same time, it also offered the visitor delights and experiences you can't find anywhere else was simply spot-on. I recommend this book to anyone who truly enjoys travels and the self-reflection afforded through trips that take them out of their comfort zones.

This is the most honest, earthy, exhilarating account of an expedition that I've ever come upon. In a sense, I've seen more of Rajasthan through Davidson's story than during my own brief treck into the Thar.

This is one of those rare travel books that not only enthrall you, but has the rare quality of making the reader burst out laughing. Some of what I find humorous maybe because I am Indian, and find Ms. Davidson's honesty very entertaining. She is a tough woman, who has done things which most middle class Indian cannot even dream of doing, and her views on the political situation in India, may be annoying to some arm chair revolutionaries, but are none the less true. Her India is as exotic as anything you will find in National Geographic, but her colors show more then yellow saffron crops and red dyed cotton scarves, it also show the filth of uncovered sewage.

This book is no dazzle-eyed account of the beauty and exoticism of India. Davidson writes beautifully about often ugly subjects; the harshness of the Rabari life, the pervasive corruption of Indian society, the squalor of rural poverty. She alternates between loving and hating India; admiring the tough spirit of the people she travels with; despairing of the rigid caste system that perpetuates inequality and injustice, heartsick of being stared at and followed and treated like an alien. This book is not always an easy read, but it is always fascinating, and you cannot help admire the indomitable spirit of its author.