Description

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Our healing journeys differ. Some move country or hit the bottle. Diane's healing journey was travel. Her son loved traveling and mountain climbing in South America. He'd walked the Inca Trail and longed to return to the sacred citadel of Machu Picchu. On the first anniversary of his death, fragile and aching with grief, she traveled alone to Peru to scatter his ashes there. Diane's adventures en route were by turns scary, electrifying, and humorous: flying over the Nazca Lines; a consultation with an Inca witch; an accidental brush with Peruvian porn. She immersed herself in the culture and Peru reconnected her with life. This is a story about profound loss leading to spiritual gain. And it's a story about love.

About the Author

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Diane Esguerra left school and home at 16. It was then that she discovered the value of learning and proceeded to get degrees in English and psychotherapy. In work, she has taught English to Islamic judges in London, been a performing artist around the world and has been a playwright, creating parts for women that are less one dimensional than many of those around today. Diane has had success with her plays Victoria Island, set in Lagos, and performed at the National Theatre of Nigeria with a mainly Nigerian cast, and Moti Roti—a Bollywood comedy with an all-Indian cast, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and in Montreal. Although a writer of fiction, after the death of her son Diane felt compelled to write her fascinating memoir.

Praise For…

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This is an inspiring and uplifting book about finding infinite value in the most intense and painful experience of profound loss. —Sandie Shaw, Singer


If the purpose of personal narratives is to make sense out of one s life then Diane Esguerra s excellent memoir will I suspect present not only an invaluable insight into how telling your story may save you from it, but also achieve redemptive potential for all those who have suffered a similar bereavement. Above all Junkie Buddha: A Journey demonstrates how the healing process is to pass from the narration of trauma as hurt feelings into the narration of trauma as an experience of deep significance. —Huffington Post

I could not put this gripping travel memoir down. What a refreshing change from the endless stream of ghost-written celebrity outpourings! Junkie Buddha: A Journey is moving and enlightening. It deserves the widest possible readership. —Julia Stephenson, Author