Headlong: Over the Edge in Pakistan and China

by Susan Barrett Price

In this engaging travel memoir, Susan reminds the 85-year-old Jim of their 1992 adventure in northern Pakistan and Islamic western China -- a journey both harrowing and hilarious. A must-read for lovers of middle-age rejuvenation and discovery. They took off for Central Asia without really thinking it through. There was a highway after all, between Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and Kashgar, China. It would take them to the largest Sunday market in all of Asia. They were salaried professionals by day, but nurtured dreams of alternative she, to write art crime thrillers; he, to trade in art and antiquities. Traveling the ancient trade routes was their idea of romance. And so, they became strangers, alone together in a timeless landscape. Every day brought new challenges. And their lives were changed forever.

122 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 17, 2018

About the author

For Susan Barrett Price, writing became a second career when two interests converged: travel and fascination with the underworld of international art trade. The resulting novels: PASSION & PERIL ON THE SILK ROAD (2008) and THE SUDDEN SILENCE (2015). An early adopter of online journaling, Price developed her creative nonfiction skills in personal essays, including a newspaper column and scripts for short-video clients and public radio. Essays about grand exits and fresh starts formed the backbone of TRIBE OF THE BREAKAWAY BEADS (2011). HEADLONG: OVER THE EDGE IN PAKISTAN AND CHINA (2018) is a traveler's tale recounting Price's poorly planned roadtrip to forbidden places and lost times. The dramatic origin story of Price’s grandmother led her to combine the world-building of nonfiction biography with the storytelling devices of the novel, resulting in the epic family saga KITTY'S PEOPLE (2022).

Reviews

[Kathleen Carroll-Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

You must read this book

This was a delight to read. I could feel the delight, joy, anxiety and fear as they travelled from one adventure to the next. Such brave souls. I loved your reason for writing this- to remind Jim of your trip.