I am very excited to say that my sister is now a published author!
Her book is called Ahimsa and her pen name is Caroline Earle. This is the Amazon Canada link to her book (paperback or ebook) though it is available in the UK and presumably in the US too.
Ahimsa: Respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others.On a 32,000 km journey through six Asian countries over six months, Caroline, a journalist, and her husband become increasingly aware of animal welfare, poverty and what we are doing to the planet. They had no idea when they set off that they were going to end up vegan. Ahimsa is the story of their journey, meeting colourful characters and exploring many philosophical themes along the way. It is topical and questioning, in parts funny, sad and increasingly angry. It is an uplifting, thought-provoking account of the route to compassion, not least through the simple act of cuddling a cow in India.
Ahimsa by Caroline Earle, published by Grosvenor House Publishing, is available now on Amazon as a paperback and on Kindle and other ebook formats.
Caroline had told me that she was vegetarian before she went on her big trip. Even that step surprised me. I became vegetarian in about 1986, and then vegan a couple of years after that. I never thought I would see the day that she would give up meat, and she didn’t even tell me straight away. And now that she is vegan…I cannot describe the joy I feel at this fact.
She spent time in the Animal Aid sanctuary in India where she really connected profoundly with animals. Not just dogs, but cows and goats. She looked into their eyes, she comforted them when they were in pain or dying, and she saw sentient beings that deserve to live their lives without being enslaved or abused or slaughtered for meat.
A few years ago, she was on holiday on India with her husband and their blended family (four adult children and a daughter-in-law) and they rode on elephants. Now, they know better. They understand that those elephants went through enormous amounts of abuse to get them trained for tourists to ride them. And not only that, but it is tremendously disrespectful of us to think that it is appropriate to ride them.
The book is interesting not just from the change of heart she had around eating and relating to animals but also from a travel perspective and stories of her family and dog, Zippy.
I hope you get to read this book. It’s worth it!
NICOLA KNITS 