First published 2009
Rupert Isaacson watches his son Rowan disappear into autism's isolating world. The boy suffers hours-long tantrums. Months of therapy yield no progress. Isaacson fears they will never connect as father and son. Then Rowan encounters Betsy, a mare who approaches him gently instead of trampling him. For the first time, Rowan communicates meaningfully with another being. He begins to speak. Witnessing this transformation, Isaacson forms a desperate plan. He will take his family to Mongolia, where horses were first domesticated six thousand years ago and shamanism remains an official religion alongside Buddhism. There, riding across endless steppes, they will seek mystical healers who might unlock Rowan's condition. The month-long journey through vast Mongolian landscapes becomes an internal voyage for Isaacson as well. What began as his son's disability might open doors to extraordinary adventure instead of closing them.
Genres: family-life, adventure, non-fiction, biography-memoir, disability
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Mongolia
336 pages · Paperback · Bilge Kültür Sanat