image of person or book cover 7554259631407747078.jpg
Image courtesy of Penguin Books
y separately published work icon A Long Way Home single work   autobiography  
Alternative title: Lion : A Long Way Home
Issue Details: First known date: 2013... 2013 A Long Way Home
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'When Saroo Brierley used Google Earth to find his long-lost home town half a world away, he made global headlines.

'Saroo had become lost on a train in India at the age of five. Not knowing the name of his family or where he was from, he survived for weeks on the streets of Kolkata, before being taken into an orphanage and adopted by a couple in Australia.

'Despite being happy in his new family, Saroo always wondered about his origins. He spent hours staring at the map of India on his bedroom wall. When he was a young man the advent of Google Earth led him to pore over satellite images of the country for landmarks he recognised. And one day, after years of searching, he miraculously found what he was looking for.

'Then he set off on a journey to find his mother.

'A Long Way Home is a moving and inspirational true story of survival and triumph against incredible odds. It celebrates the importance of never letting go of what drives the human spirit – hope.' (Publisher's blurb)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Lion Saroo Brierley , Luke Davies , ( dir. Garth Davis ) Australia : Screen Australia See Saw Films Sunstar Entertainment The Weinstein Company , 2016 8160821 2016 single work film/TV

'A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 later, he sets out to find his lost family.' (Production summary)

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes via publisher's website (for young readers' ed.)

Notes

  • Dedication: For Guddu

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Alternative title: Lion : A Long Way Home
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Viking , 2013 .
      image of person or book cover 7554259631407747078.jpg
      Image courtesy of Penguin Books
      Extent: 261 [16] pages of platesp.
      Description: col. illus., maps, ports.
      Note/s:
      • Published:24/06/2013
      ISBN: 9780670077045 (paperback) :
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Berkley Publishing Corporation ,
      2015 .
      image of person or book cover 4089718567860870713.png
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 288p.p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2nd June 2015. 
      ISBN: 9780425276198
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 4121029160923118434.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 272p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 28th November 2016
      ISBN: 9780143572305
Alternative title: Lion : a Long Way Home (Young Readers Edition)

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Sound recording.
  • Sound recording (French)

Works about this Work

Google Earth and Google Babies : Nation, Transnation and the Australian Reproscape Vera Mackie , 2021 single work criticism
— Appears in: Transnational Spaces : India and Australia 2021; (p. 105-132)

'If the transnational is often mapped at a macro scale, it also occurs at many micro levels, some of which centre on the human body. This chapter surveys a range of print and visual media to see how the movements of genetic material are represented as they occur within and across national spaces, and how transnational surrogacy contracts, third-party provision of gametes and adoption reconfigure the family. Key genres dealing with the ‘reproscape’ are outlined: documentaries, memoirs, fiction, digital media, television dramas and film. The focus is on Australia and two central examples involve Australian-Indian exchanges: a memoir of commissioning surrogacy by Barry du Bois and the memoir of adoption by Saroo Brierly, which was made internationally famous as the film Lion.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Lifelong Learning Kelsey Oldham , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Books + Publishing , October vol. 97 no. 4 2018; (p. 9-10)

'Kelsey Oldham investigates the role played by younger readers editions in the growth of children's nonfiction.'

Hollywood Biopic 'Surreal' for Saroo Brierley, the Aussie Subject of Golden Globe-nominated Film Lion Elise Fantin , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , January 2017;

'Tasmanian Saroo Brierley has not decided whether he will watch this year's Golden Globes despite a film about his true-life story being nominated for four awards.

Lion is based on his incredible journey to find his birth mother and family in India.'

A Long Way Home: Ghostwriter Larry Buttrose on Telling Saroo Brierley's Story behind the Film Lion Amanda Hoh , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , February 2017;

'From the moment Larry Buttrose heard the story about Saroo Brierley, he knew what a remarkable one it was.

A five-year-old boy loses his family at an Indian train station, spends 32 hours on a train, three weeks alone on the streets of Kolkata, then gets placed in an orphanage where an Australian family adopts him and takes him to Hobart.'

(Introduction)

Lion Is a Well-made Melodrama with a Rather Disturbing Message Ari Mattes , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 9 January 2016;
'Lion is a well-made film starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. An Australian production written by Luke Davies (Candy) and adapted from Saroo Brierly’s memoir A Long Way Home (2013), it follows the remarkable true story of an Indian boy who, lost in Calcutta, is adopted by an Australian couple and grows up in Tasmania. 25 years later, he uses Google Earth to locate his home village and is reunited with his birth mother.'
[Review] A Long Way Home Dianne Dempsey , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 31 August 2013; (p. 23)

— Review of A Long Way Home Saroo Brierley , Larry Buttrose , 2013 single work autobiography
Australia Remains the Perfect Place to Make Films About the End of the World Stephanie Bunbury , 2014 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 21 May 2014; The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 May 2014;
Saroo on Set to See Story Take Shape Emma Hope , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Mercury , 31 January 2015; (p. 10)
'Hobart's Saroo Brierley is watching his life play out on camera in front of his eyes...'
Nicole Sneaks Back For a Shoot Antimo Iannella , Anna Vlach , Matt Gilbertson , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 13 May 2015; (p. 26)
Lion Is a Well-made Melodrama with a Rather Disturbing Message Ari Mattes , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 9 January 2016;
'Lion is a well-made film starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. An Australian production written by Luke Davies (Candy) and adapted from Saroo Brierly’s memoir A Long Way Home (2013), it follows the remarkable true story of an Indian boy who, lost in Calcutta, is adopted by an Australian couple and grows up in Tasmania. 25 years later, he uses Google Earth to locate his home village and is reunited with his birth mother.'
A Long Way Home: Ghostwriter Larry Buttrose on Telling Saroo Brierley's Story behind the Film Lion Amanda Hoh , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , February 2017;

'From the moment Larry Buttrose heard the story about Saroo Brierley, he knew what a remarkable one it was.

A five-year-old boy loses his family at an Indian train station, spends 32 hours on a train, three weeks alone on the streets of Kolkata, then gets placed in an orphanage where an Australian family adopts him and takes him to Hobart.'

(Introduction)

Last amended 2 Mar 2023 15:08:14
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