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    North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both
    North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both
    North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both
    Audiobook9 hours

    North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both

    Written by Cea Sunrise Person

    Narrated by Cea Sunrise Person

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Sex, drugs, and . . . bug stew? In the vein of The Glass Castle and Wild, Cea Sunrise Person’s compelling memoir of a childhood spent with her dysfunctional counter-culture family in the Canadian wilderness—a searing story of physical, emotional, and psychological survival.

    In the late 1960s, riding the crest of the counterculture movement, Cea’s family left a comfortable existence in California to live off the land in the Canadian wilderness. But unlike most commune dwellers of the time, the Persons weren’t trying to build a new society—they wanted to escape civilization altogether. Led by Cea’s grandfather Dick, they lived a pot-smoking, free-loving, clothing-optional life under a canvas tipi without running water, electricity, or heat for the bitter winters.

    Living out her grandparents’ dream with her teenage mother Michelle, young Cea knew little of the world beyond her forest. She spent her summers playing nude in the meadow and her winters snowshoeing behind the grandfather she idolized. Despite fierce storms, food shortages, and the occasional drug-and-sex-infused party for visitors, it seemed to be a mostly happy existence. For Michelle, however, now long separated from Cea’s father, there was one crucial element missing: a man. When Cea was five, Michelle took her on the road with a new boyfriend. As the trio set upon a series of ill-fated adventures, Cea began to question both her highly unusual world and the hedonistic woman at the centre of it—questions that eventually evolved into an all-consuming search for a more normal life. Finally, in her early teens, Cea realized she would have to make a choice as drastic as the one her grandparents once had in order to save herself.

    While a successful international modeling career offered her a way out of the wilderness, Cea discovered that this new world was in its own way daunting and full of challenges. Containing twenty-four intimate black-and-white family photos, North of Normal is Cea’s funny, shocking, heartbreaking, and triumphant tale of self-discovery and acceptance, adversity, and strength that will leave no listener unmoved.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJan 9, 2018
    ISBN9780062839138
    Author

    Cea Sunrise Person

    CEA SUNRISE PERSON is now a happily married mother of three. She lives in Vancouver, BC, where she continues to tell her story through design for her graphic arts business, Life Story Creative (lifestorycreative.ca). She hates camping.

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    Reviews for North of Normal

    4.5/5

    72 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is a captivating memoir of an unusual childhood, as her mother and grandparents chose a life outside society’s norms. Though she was neglected at times, it is not a depressing story. It is well written and I enjoyed it very much.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      What’s a pretty good book I didn’t like the narrator, not enough emotion during this parts that really needed it. With that said it was very similar to half broke horses or glass castle feel like either of those you’ll love this!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow…. I really enjoyed this memoir. It’s unbelievable how she grew up and what she went through. Amazing that she has such fond memories of her childhood even after all that happened to her. She must be a very forgiving person. How she survived…. I’ll never know…. Strong child. She was a survivor of the free and easy hippie days. Such a fascinating story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow. Amazing story. Beautifully told and read. Absolutely recommend.
    • 5/5
      A surprising story that truly held my interest from start to finish
    • 5/5
      Just such an unusual, screwed up and lonely upbringing and such an honest/heartfelt reflection! I have always been obsessed by the wilds of Canada and North America but have only ever seen it on TV growing up in the twee quaintness of the British countryside the descriptions really help you visual the stark reality of this little girls situation!
    • 5/5
      Shocking, heartbreaking and courageous. If I ever think again, that I had a chaotic childhood I will remember Cea.