BOZEMAN, Mont., April 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Last Longhouse is an adventure story, a love story, and a true account of a journey into an unknown part of the world. A book that can put you there and one you can't put down. Join newly published author Anna Goins as she travels alone into the uncharted Borneo jungle with only a handwritten map as a guide. Renowned for its dark tradition of headhunting, the region had never been visited by an American woman.
Who would believe a sixty-year-old American widow traveling alone into Borneo with only a week's supply of food and a hand-drawn map could make her way up the Mahakam River into forbidden territory of Dyak headhunters. Perseverance and courage take her to the headwaters of the Mahakam River and to Rukun Damai, an isolated Dyak settlement clinging to their traditional way of life. Her initial reception by the Dyak patinggi (headman) is chilling, but refusal to let go of a life-long dream enables her to earn acceptance and an opportunity to participate in the ceremonies and everyday life of the Dyak people.
The Last Longhouse is the unique story of a Western woman's romantic relationship with a Dyak headhunter. Anna's immersion in the Dyak culture and her narrative talent lays bare both the threat from the outside world destined to obliterate the Dyak way of life and surprising discoveries of love and romance. Together with the Dyaks, she faces choices of paths and last chances.
In The Last Longhouse Anna Goins writes of her unforgettable adventure to share with men and women of all ages. To inspire all who dream of adventure, to tip them over the edge and make their dreams come true.
About the Author
Anna Goins has lived with native peoples in many parts of the world: South America, India, Sumatra, with Bedouins in Egypt, and in a cave in Jordan. As the wife of an anthropologist she took year-long field trips to the Andes, where together with her husband and two young sons, she lived with the Quechua Indians in Bolivia and Ecuador.
Goins has been interested in the Dyak headhunters of Borneo since she was a child. By the time she was free of conventional responsibilities, widowed, her two sons grown and on their own, she left the comforts of the civilized world in pursuit of a childhood dream: to live in a longhouse with the wild headhunters of Borneo. The Last Longhouse is her testament of fulfillment. Remarried, she now lives in Montana where she writes and paints.
The Last Longhouse -- By Anna Goins
Publication Date: January 20, 2005
Trade Paperback; $24.99; 426 pages; 1-4134-6303-7
Cloth Hardback; $34.99; 426 pages; 1-4134-6304-5
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 496. Tearsheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Cindy Fernandez. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0293 or call (888) 795-4274 x.876.
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