Synopses & Reviews
Two classics, The Lovely Bones and The Beach, meet in this girl-and-her-backpack story — except this teenager, Carlie, isn't merely traveling.
Carlie steals ten thousand dollars from her parents to get as far from them as possible: Southeast Asia. There, the Lonely Planet path of hooks, heat, alcohol and drugs takes on a terrifying reality.
Landing in Tokyo in the late 1980s, teaching English and practicing tai chi, Carlie has the chance at a journey she didn't plan for: one to find the self-respect ripped from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires.
Review
“With a slow, realistic redemption arc, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is a novel in which a survivor of abuse achieves a gritty, tender coming-of-age and reinvents herself.” Foreword Reviews
Review
"A rare novel that shows how easily childhood trauma can be internalized and normalized, distorting our coming-of-age. Hall puts us inside that headspace then walks us through a maze of globe-trotting dissociation to a better, more hopeful place. An outstanding debut." Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Review
"One of the strongest authorial voices I've heard in a very long time. A formidable story that broke my heart, and ultimately gave me hope." Anna Quinn, author of The Night Child and Angeline
Review
"With a realistic redemption arc, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is a novel in which a survivor of abuse achieves a gritty, tender coming-of-age and reinvents herself." Karen Ribgy
Synopsis
Nominated for The National Book Award, Alle C. Hall's debut literary novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is for book lovers of two classics: The Lovely Bones and The Beach.
Carlie is not merely traveling. A child sexual abuse survivor, as a teen she steals ten thousand dollars and runs away to Asia. There, the Lonely Planet path of hookups, heat, alcohol, and drugs takes on a terrifying reality.
Landing in Tokyo in the late 1980s, Carlie falls in with an international crew of tai chi-practicing backpackers. With their help, she has the chance at a journey she didn't plan for: one to find the self-respect taken from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires.
About the Author
Alle C. Hall's fiction and essays appear in Dale Peck's Evergreen Review, Litro, Tupelo Quarterly, Creative Nonfiction Magazine, Hobart, Necessary Fiction, Another Chicago Magazine, Literary Orphans, Under the Gum Tree, and elsewhere. Her journalism can be read in Bust Magazine, The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger, for whom she was a contributing editor. A Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net nominee, she placed as finalist for The Lascaux Prize and won the Richard Hugo House New Works Competition. As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is her first book.