Never Leave the Dogs Behind

by Brianna Madia

First published 2024

Brianna Madia abandons her nomadic van life for an even more stripped down existence. She moves into a trailer without running water or electricity on a small patch of dirt outside a Utah town. Her companions are four dogs: Bucket, Dagwood, Birdie, and Banjo. Madia faces what she calls unfathomable darkness as she reckons with her decision to live completely alone in the desert Southwest. She owns almost nothing and depends entirely on her dogs for companionship and emotional support. This memoir follows her bestselling Nowhere for Very Long and chronicles what happens when the dream life she thought she was building falls apart. Madia must find the courage to start over from nothing. The book explores what it means to strip away everything society considers necessary and rebuild from the most basic elements: shelter, solitude, and the loyalty of dogs.

Genres: nature, animals, survival, adventure, dogs, memoir

Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: starting-over, stripped-down-existence

Setting: Utah

208 pages · Hardcover · HarperOne

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