Abroad: A Novel of Cross-Cultural Encounters by Greyson Bryan
Come along for the ride with this “supremely readable” coming-of-age story about clashing cultures and complicated relationships. ABROAD follows Skip, Maddie, and Rex as they travel overseas and navigate romantic loves and friendships during the cultural upheaval and sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s.
Booklife praises ABROAD saying, “In this literary novel centered on travel and the lessons we can learn from crossing borders with an open heart, Bryan, author of the Big thriller series, weaves an ambitious, globe-crossing narrative of interconnected lives and loves.”
Travel to Mexico and Paris, take a steamship to Europe, crisscross Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia all in one story. Read ABROAD and bring adventure with you wherever you go.
Targeted Age Group:: Adult
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 3 – PG-13
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I am fascinated by the range of reactions people experience when living and working in a different culture. There is the initial shock and exhilaration of your first trip abroad, the “we’re not in Kansas anymore” feeling. But once you’ve gotten over the novelty of being overseas and settle in to living there, I've seen people's attitudes shift to everything from ignoring or embracing the cultural they're living in, and rejecting or relativizing their experience; to romanticizing or exploiting cultural differences.
The idea of writing ABROAD, a novel that captures a range of experiences and explores the push-pull between the joy and discomfort of living in a place different from home, came together about four years ago, after the BIG series was finished. As I drafted the first pages, I decided my story would try to answer two questions: can we ever truly understand someone from another culture and can we ever truly understand ourselves if we don’t try?
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Many of the stories in the novel reflect my own experience. My family took a trip to Europe when I was nine. I played baseball with a group of local boys in Mexico in junior high. I also competed on a volleyball team in Hong Kong during college and traveled with a student group across Japan. These trips all led to chapters in the book. And out of my experiences on these trips, I developed characters. My main characters have a life of their own in my imagination, and I pulled from many experiences to create them, but each also has a little bit of me in them.
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