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Just Another Mountain: A Memoir of Hope
Shortlisted for Travel Memoir Book of the Year, Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020 / Winner - GOLD in Personality of the Year, SILVER in The Extra Mile Award as well as SILVER in Book of the Year all in The Great Outdoor Awards 2019'This uplifting memoir is testament that in life there are times when there is nothing for it but to scale that mountain' - The Herald Best Summer Reads 2019In 1997, at the age of 24, Sarah lost her mother to breast cancer. Alone and adrift in the world, she very nearly gave up hope - but she'd made a promise to her mother that she would keep going no matter what. So she turned to the beautiful, dangerous, forbidding mountains of her native Scotland.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 25, 2020
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285 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 24, 2020
What an incredible homage to a Mother! Sarah has had to deal with so much grief and all in a relatively short space of time, taking that many hits from life in one go makes grieving almost impossible. She gets herself into more trouble which adds more stress and pushes her very close to the edge. She needed to find a way out of the darkness and quickly. A cue for the mighty hills to step in and give her grief an outlet.
Being out and about walking in the hills is very therapeutic, alone with your thoughts, able to calmly think things through and being untethered from all those gadgets that cause stress in life. I work in IT and am lucky to have across the road from my work a common, lunchtime walks splashing through puddles can get me through some tough days. It's not just humans that feel this, the happiest my dog has ever looked is when up in the hills.
Sarah takes to hill walking big time, tackling the Munros, Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas. As she walks she tells the reader about her life, about her mum, grandparents, sons and loves. All her dark moments are put onto the page full of raw emotion. You start of this book not knowing who this person is but by the end you feel as if you've know her all your life.
This has been a wonderful book to read, I did invest myself emotionally big time and at the end of certain chapters I was left with a heavy lump in my chest. Near the end Sarah does a bit of investigating and I found myself on the edge of my seat, hoping that she would find the answers that she wanted. This book comes highly recommended by me, give it a read to see the magical healing that nature has.
Blog review with pictures: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
Being out and about walking in the hills is very therapeutic, alone with your thoughts, able to calmly think things through and being untethered from all those gadgets that cause stress in life. I work in IT and am lucky to have across the road from my work a common, lunchtime walks splashing through puddles can get me through some tough days. It's not just humans that feel this, the happiest my dog has ever looked is when up in the hills.
Sarah takes to hill walking big time, tackling the Munros, Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas. As she walks she tells the reader about her life, about her mum, grandparents, sons and loves. All her dark moments are put onto the page full of raw emotion. You start of this book not knowing who this person is but by the end you feel as if you've know her all your life.
This has been a wonderful book to read, I did invest myself emotionally big time and at the end of certain chapters I was left with a heavy lump in my chest. Near the end Sarah does a bit of investigating and I found myself on the edge of my seat, hoping that she would find the answers that she wanted. This book comes highly recommended by me, give it a read to see the magical healing that nature has.
Blog review with pictures: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...
August 21, 2019
In the late 1990s, Sarah Jane Douglas lost her mother to the horrid disease that is breast cancer. Sarah was only 24 at the time and she felt very alone in the world. Even though she felt live giving up, she had promised her mother that she wouldn’t give up and would keep going. The shock of having to deal with the grief pushed her towards drink and drugs, but thankfully it didn’t consume her.
Her mother had been a single parent, the man she was going to marry, Gerry had died when on an expedition in the Himalayas shortly before they were supposed to be married. Sarah became a single parent too, having a son to one guy and then a second son to another partner, but neither relationship worked out and she relied on the support of her grandparents to fill in the gaps in her family life.
What carried her the most though was the love for the hills and mountains of her native Scotland. She sought solace in these hills, and they repaid her many times over. With various friends and family members, she conquered Monroe’s, headed to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro and embarked on a trip to Nepal with her new partner to take some of her mothers ashes to be with the man that she never married. Each of these small and large challenges gave her the strength to face her own diagnosis two decades later.
Douglas is not the most lyrical of writers, she writes in a matter of fact way with an honesty about the trials and tribulations that she has overcome by herself and with the support of family and partners. She takes inspiration from being outside and this has helped her cope with her tough and sometimes painful life because of decisions that she has made and things that have happened to her, this still manages to be an uplifting book.
Her mother had been a single parent, the man she was going to marry, Gerry had died when on an expedition in the Himalayas shortly before they were supposed to be married. Sarah became a single parent too, having a son to one guy and then a second son to another partner, but neither relationship worked out and she relied on the support of her grandparents to fill in the gaps in her family life.
What carried her the most though was the love for the hills and mountains of her native Scotland. She sought solace in these hills, and they repaid her many times over. With various friends and family members, she conquered Monroe’s, headed to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro and embarked on a trip to Nepal with her new partner to take some of her mothers ashes to be with the man that she never married. Each of these small and large challenges gave her the strength to face her own diagnosis two decades later.
Douglas is not the most lyrical of writers, she writes in a matter of fact way with an honesty about the trials and tribulations that she has overcome by herself and with the support of family and partners. She takes inspiration from being outside and this has helped her cope with her tough and sometimes painful life because of decisions that she has made and things that have happened to her, this still manages to be an uplifting book.
March 24, 2020
A memoir of hope (set mainly in SCOTLAND)
CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ALKg_nnkNGY
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020, APA Publications Travel Memoir Book of the Year.
Sarah didn’t have the easiest of childhoods but when her Mum is taken from her with breast cancer, she has to revolutionise her sliding world. The memoir opens in 2008 and the author sets the scene for the coming trials in her life.
She never really knew her father, who gamely stops by her house one day when she is 17 years old and decides to show her his disco venue, transporting her in his flash car. Not an auspicious opening to establishing a father-daughter bond. Then, in her adult life, she also struggles to find a good enough partner for herself and someone who would be happy to be with her and her two children.
She decides that changes are needed and she discovers that mountain trekking/climbin proves to be a balm to her troubled soul. At first she tackles some of the smaller (I say smaller, but it’s all relative) peaks in Scotland and then is inspired to trek Kilimanjaro and the surrounding area. The experience of her climbing adventures in Africa spur her to start tackling the Munros (these are mountains in Scotland that are over 3000 feet). She then heads to Nepal in 2014 which is a further test of endurance (especially with a terrible stomach bug!). Her mission in Nepal is also to find a suitable place to scatter her Mother’s ashes, perhaps somehow closing the circle of loss and sadness in such a stunning and challenging place.
After getting her life on a reasonable level, another cataclysmic event befalls her, requiring a strength of character. She describes this in the Postscript.
This is a candid account of a young woman’s life, someone who has had to deal with loss and tremendous difficulties, both in the tasks she sets herself and in her personal life. She steers a course through friendship and partners, life and love. Despite all that life has thrown at her, she gradually finds an acceptance of who she is and not who she thought she should be. The style is easy to read and the memoir is written with panache and a captivating ingenuity that hooks the reader in.
CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/ALKg_nnkNGY
Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2020, APA Publications Travel Memoir Book of the Year.
Sarah didn’t have the easiest of childhoods but when her Mum is taken from her with breast cancer, she has to revolutionise her sliding world. The memoir opens in 2008 and the author sets the scene for the coming trials in her life.
She never really knew her father, who gamely stops by her house one day when she is 17 years old and decides to show her his disco venue, transporting her in his flash car. Not an auspicious opening to establishing a father-daughter bond. Then, in her adult life, she also struggles to find a good enough partner for herself and someone who would be happy to be with her and her two children.
She decides that changes are needed and she discovers that mountain trekking/climbin proves to be a balm to her troubled soul. At first she tackles some of the smaller (I say smaller, but it’s all relative) peaks in Scotland and then is inspired to trek Kilimanjaro and the surrounding area. The experience of her climbing adventures in Africa spur her to start tackling the Munros (these are mountains in Scotland that are over 3000 feet). She then heads to Nepal in 2014 which is a further test of endurance (especially with a terrible stomach bug!). Her mission in Nepal is also to find a suitable place to scatter her Mother’s ashes, perhaps somehow closing the circle of loss and sadness in such a stunning and challenging place.
After getting her life on a reasonable level, another cataclysmic event befalls her, requiring a strength of character. She describes this in the Postscript.
This is a candid account of a young woman’s life, someone who has had to deal with loss and tremendous difficulties, both in the tasks she sets herself and in her personal life. She steers a course through friendship and partners, life and love. Despite all that life has thrown at her, she gradually finds an acceptance of who she is and not who she thought she should be. The style is easy to read and the memoir is written with panache and a captivating ingenuity that hooks the reader in.
June 20, 2019
This was a fabulous read! Sarah describes her and her mother’s lives with honesty and insight, including the devastation of losing her mother to cancer and later facing her own diagnosis, and how she found solace in the mountains, in Scotland and abroad. It did a rare thing in making me laugh out loud several times, and made me cry too. Highly recommend this inspiring and candid story of determination and survival, beautifully written with Sarah’s unique and humorous voice.
January 14, 2024
I loved this book. The author gives an honest description of the trials that she has faced throughout her life for the purpose of relaying how her passion for hill and mountain walking aided her in coping with them. The experiences of the author are mostly relatable, making this an endearing read.
One of the major themes of this book was the importance of family and appreciating the limited time that we have with them before we are confronted with their demise. The following quote from the book summarises the sentiment behind the emotional and physical journey undertaken by the author, she simply states that:
“The people we love are the blueprint for our lives”
This explains the lasting affect that our loved ones have upon us.
If the goal of this book was to encourage people to live in the moment and just put one foot in front of the other when times are tough, then it has succeeded.
One of the major themes of this book was the importance of family and appreciating the limited time that we have with them before we are confronted with their demise. The following quote from the book summarises the sentiment behind the emotional and physical journey undertaken by the author, she simply states that:
“The people we love are the blueprint for our lives”
This explains the lasting affect that our loved ones have upon us.
If the goal of this book was to encourage people to live in the moment and just put one foot in front of the other when times are tough, then it has succeeded.
January 30, 2024
Well done to Sarah for her determination in conquering the mountains and in so doing rescuing herself from her trauma. An inspiring read.
April 30, 2025
Irresponsible mountaineering from start to finish, whilst the total number of Munro’s is listed as 284 when in reality the total is 282 - it seems Sarah has invented two Munro’s and I suspect many of the stories in this book.
October 10, 2021
Inspirational book on severe grief and how Sarah managed to pull through the other side of the devastating loss of her mum by climbing mountains.
Sarah manages to convey her story in a truly raw and realistic way without coming across as preachy and without pushing the idea that the reader too should climb mountains to overcome all their problems.
I found myself really involved in this book and would keep just reading one more page and one more as it was hard to put down, particularly in the sections where she was in Tanzania and Nepal as her descriptions were so vivid I could really visualise the landscapes she was depicting.
Sarah manages to convey her story in a truly raw and realistic way without coming across as preachy and without pushing the idea that the reader too should climb mountains to overcome all their problems.
I found myself really involved in this book and would keep just reading one more page and one more as it was hard to put down, particularly in the sections where she was in Tanzania and Nepal as her descriptions were so vivid I could really visualise the landscapes she was depicting.
June 16, 2019
An inspiring and relatable read. Heart-wrenching and funny by turns, keeping you wanting to read on. So much so that I finished it in less than 6 hours.
July 24, 2019
I really loved this book! I bought it on a trip to Scotland just because it was about Scottish mountains. The story of Sarah's life intertwined with her climbing adventures was so interesting, I couldn't put the book down.
October 15, 2020
As someone who loves the mountains I thought this would be right up my street but ultimately I found it disappointing. I just didn't take to the narrator; I found her annoying and her behaviour on the hills to start with (no map, no navigation skills, not even checking the weather forecast!!) was reckless to put it mildly. Her attitude and preparation does improve later but too late for me.
June 3, 2021
This book was so well written, exploring grief and the profound effect it has on a persons life. So much resonated with me and it has helped me to understand my own grief.
It is an inspiring story.
The journey and the mountains were incredible.
It is an inspiring story.
The journey and the mountains were incredible.
September 6, 2020
Sarah writes with searing honesty about how chaotic her life became, and how alone and unsupported she had often felt, following the death of her mother and then later, as a single mother to two young sons, the deaths of her grandparents who had, since her childhood, always been there to support her. She described herself as having ‘spent years lurching from one distraction to the next: drinking too much, dabbling with drugs, loveless sex with too many men, motherhood. I got into trouble with the police. I wound up in a volatile marriage.’ She felt that no one truly cared and, although she loved her two young sons, there times when it ‘felt like a struggle just to keep breathing.’
However, even when she felt at her lowest, she never forgot the promise she’d made to her mother that she’d never give up. Some of her favourite memories of her mother were of the frequent walks they shared and, following her mother’s death, she would go for long walks along the beach and the river because retracing some of those walks helped her to feel closer to her. As she’d grown up in the Scottish Highlands, the mountains had always formed the backdrop to her life. However, it wasn’t until she felt that her life was spiralling out of control that she felt a need to seek out these wilder places to walk in. She found a sense of peace in these wild landscapes and discovered that taking on the often-tough physical challenges (be that terrain, weather – or both!) enabled her to confront the difficulties she was experiencing in her life. As she set herself increasingly difficult challenges, as she began to climb higher and higher, she began to gain different perspectives on her life, to reflect on what was important to her and decide how to achieve the goals she was setting herself. She eventually climbed Kilimanjaro, all 282 Munros (each over 3,000ft) and a 5,000-metre peak in the Himalayas, where she scattered some of her mother’s ashes, finally being able to lay to rest some of the ghosts of her (and her mother’s) past. There is an important thread which runs through her story which leads to this ‘pilgrimage’ to Nepal (you must read the story to find out what it is!) and I found the symbolic nature of her trip very poignant and powerful as, yet again, she battled the elements with huge fortitude, determined not to give up on her ultimate goal.
Written in an engaging, easy to read style, I found this a moving and inspiring story about loss, grief and love, and of how the author’s determination and courage enabled her to face and overcome the difficulties and challenges of her life. As someone for whom being in the outdoors, especially sitting on top of a mountain I’ve toiled up, has always meant knowing that, whatever my mood when starting out, my efforts would be rewarded with a sense of achievement, joy and peaceful contentment, I found much that I could identify with in Sarah’s accounts of the healing nature of the landscape. Also, as I'm familiar with many of the Scottish locations she described, reading her accounts of particular walks and climbs evoked some very vivid and enjoyable memories for me. However, walking in wild, remote places can be dangerous, however well-prepared you are but the dangers are increased if you don’t take some basic precautions and if you take any unnecessary risks. So, whilst reading her accounts of her early ventures into the mountains, when she didn’t follow some of the basic ‘rules’, and especially when she appeared not to learn from earlier mistakes, I did find myself feeling quite angry with her for putting not only herself, but others, at risk – even though I could sympathise with some of the psychology underlying her apparent carelessness about her own safety!
I think Sarah has written a truly inspirational story, one which demonstrates that with courage, a determination never to give up and a willingness to carry on putting ‘one foot in front of the other and just keep on walking’ it’s possible to overcome problems and achieve your goals, whatever they are. It is clear from her story that she has valued the support of family and friends during her journey of self-discovery, but I hope she feels proud of what she has achieved because all her successes are her own – and in never giving up, she has certainly fulfilled her promise to her mother.
January 21, 2020
I first heard this author @wigtownbookfest and was immediately compelled to buy her book, then go running up the nearest hill, that wasn’t quite a hill or very convincing. Her grief coping strategy was to climb to the summit of a hill and put all her worries behind her, I really loved her passion for this 💓 I’m not quite at the Munro stage but after racing through this book it’s suddenly feels achievable. The authors bubbly personality flows throughout her writing, containing a guide for exchanging grief and negativity with exhilarating experiences on our beautiful Scottish landscape.
July 24, 2022
I am nearing the end of this book. I don’t usually write reviews , so writing one before I’ve even finished signifies how deeply this book has touched me.
It reads beautifully, the grief that she describes is so accurate and beautifully expressed. The authors love of mountains and searching for happiness and meaning is portrayed in such realism. I felt like I was walking with her.
There is no drama or event here, so if you’re looking for that scroll on. This is a beautiful depiction of life & death, and those left behind finding their way.
It reads beautifully, the grief that she describes is so accurate and beautifully expressed. The authors love of mountains and searching for happiness and meaning is portrayed in such realism. I felt like I was walking with her.
There is no drama or event here, so if you’re looking for that scroll on. This is a beautiful depiction of life & death, and those left behind finding their way.
December 8, 2019
Whilst battling through my own grief, Just Another Mountain popped up on my recommended list when I really needed it.
It's such an inspiration read!
Raw, honest, funny and utterly heartbreaking.
Sarah's style of writing is beautiful in a way that she allows you to have a connection with the people and places in her life. So when her mum loses her battle to cancer, I cried too. And when Sarah describes the mountains, I fall in love with her surroundings too.
Highly recommend!
It's such an inspiration read!
Raw, honest, funny and utterly heartbreaking.
Sarah's style of writing is beautiful in a way that she allows you to have a connection with the people and places in her life. So when her mum loses her battle to cancer, I cried too. And when Sarah describes the mountains, I fall in love with her surroundings too.
Highly recommend!
September 5, 2025
This memoir is (mostly) about how hillwalking enabled the author to cope better with grief. I found this book very engaging and felt sympathetic. Partly because I lost a loved person to cancer (who hasn't) and partly because I enjoy hillwalking.
Maybe it was just me, but at times I got a little bit confused with the timeline of events.
But all in all a really fantastic book and I look forward to reading the sequel when you finish your second round of the munros.
Maybe it was just me, but at times I got a little bit confused with the timeline of events.
But all in all a really fantastic book and I look forward to reading the sequel when you finish your second round of the munros.
May 20, 2020
Absorbing, gritty autobiography.
The author has faced and overcome many challenges in life generally and in the mountains. This is her brilliant account of how walking the hills and some big mountains helps her to face up to, and cope with difficulties in life. Her assured writing style held my attention and interest to the end.
The author has faced and overcome many challenges in life generally and in the mountains. This is her brilliant account of how walking the hills and some big mountains helps her to face up to, and cope with difficulties in life. Her assured writing style held my attention and interest to the end.
December 29, 2020
I really wanted to love this book. If I could I would give it 3.5 stars. It’s very easy to read and I enjoyed the descriptions of the Munro’s Sarah climbs and her trip to Kilimanjaro (as I’ve been there myself). I found the first half of the book very repetitive, slow and I didn’t initially warm to her. However I felt it picked up pace in the second half and her vulnerability and the lessons she learnt through her earlier experiences were well written.
October 3, 2024
As someone going through their own grief journey and losing a parent to cancer, Sarah’s memoir is honest, raw, and inspirational. Her descriptions of locations were beautiful and vivid, her descriptions of loss were heartbreaking and all too true. This book is a great reminder that you’ll always find solace in nature, and has inspired me to plan my own solo trip (hopefully) next year!
January 15, 2020
I went to see this author at the Wigtown book festival and have been really looking forward to reading her book since, as I too love hillwalking and being in nature. This was a lovely and inspiring memoir and one that has left me itching to get back out into the mountains of Scotland (not Kilimanjaro!). But first I should really learn to read a map instead of relying on others or my dog!
I’d recommend for anyone who enjoys reading about being in nature, the great outdoors or even just memoirs about how climbing hills/mountain can help heal someone’s soul when they’ve been through loss.
I’d recommend for anyone who enjoys reading about being in nature, the great outdoors or even just memoirs about how climbing hills/mountain can help heal someone’s soul when they’ve been through loss.
September 8, 2021
Sometimes you read a book that captures landscape and feelings - this book truly captures this and how the outdoors and the mountains can heal . A great read although in the same grouping as Salt Road a very different read - recommended
July 6, 2019
Really enjoyed this book, found Sarah’s honesty and determination inspiring! A great read!
October 21, 2019
An excellent read. Full of honesty and very well written. It just flowed effortlessly.
July 23, 2020
I did enjoy this memoir, especially as I read it in the correct Highland setting- Skye then Torridon. I found some parts a little repetitive but overall the story was interesting.
July 30, 2020
very dull, didnt read it, just skim read the last half
October 21, 2020
Inspirational book, very well written makes you want to get out and walk the mountains.
February 5, 2021
A very inspiring book, especially if you're facing challenges, it brings life into perspective. Lots of sadness, but Sarah's beautiful and funny writing balances it out. Highly recommend!
March 14, 2021
This is a beautiful book. It’s Author writes with such honesty & authenticity. I simply loved it.
I highly recommend you give it ago instead of me writing a longer review ... enjoy
I highly recommend you give it ago instead of me writing a longer review ... enjoy
May 31, 2021
It's not super well-written, but the concept of coming to grips with the loss of a parent resonates.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews