Book Launch: Wild at Heart by Alienor le Gouvello
Brunswick Bound
From the moment French-born Aliénor encountered wild horses in the Australian outback, she was transfixed. Fiercely loved by some and considered a scourge by others, brumbies have a complicated place in Australian culture and history. Inspired to celebrate their character, Aliénor tamed three brumbies and teamed up with them to take on the challenge of Australia’s longest trek.
Wild at Heart follows Aliénor and her horses on an extraordinary journey stretching 5330 kilometres from Healesville in Victoria to Cooktown in tropical Far North Queensland. Through her travels across some of Australia’s most spectacular terrain, battling isolation and the elements, Aliénor built a profound bond with her horses and made life-changing discoveries where she least expected. Featuring stunning photography from renowned adventure photographer Cat Vinton, Wild at Heart is a quintessentially Australian story of breathtaking beauty and indomitable spirit.
About the authors:
From a young age, Aliénor had a passion for travelling. She has embarked on numerous adventures across the globe including a horseback trek through Mongolia and a sidecar motorbike expedition from Siberia to Paris. She was living in a remote community near Uluru when she first discovered the existence of brumbies and hatched a plan to embark on her most ambitious solo expedition to date: more than 5000 kilometres on horseback across the Bicentennial National Trail. She is now the only woman to have finished the trek alone with her horses Roxanne, River and Cooper.
Catherine de Saint Phalle was born in London, and spent most of her childhood straddling Sussex and Paris. Bilingual from the start, translation came naturally. She started writing at the age of seven and has not stopped since. She translated On the Road by Kerouac into French and transformed it into a radio play which was broadcast on France Culture. She’s the author of nine books, six of which are novels, the latest three are in English, published by Transit Lounge. Her home has been Australia since 2003.
Join Aliénor and Catherine for the celebration at Brunswick Bound, Tuesday 30 March at 6:30pm.
RSVPs with guest names and contact details are essential to [email protected].
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