Customer Reviews

Madam, Have You Ever Really Been Happy?: An Intimate Journey through Africa and Asia

5 star:		(9)
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3 star:		(1)
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Meg Peterson shows us her great personal story and tells us in a way that we don't want to put down the book. Its not only a travel tale, but a journey of self-discovery. Don"t miss it!!!

I knew I would like this book right off. The first paragraph got my attention when Meg described a woman catching up with her to ask this question after a gym class. "Is it true that you took a trip around the world---alone?" She said she'd heard this often. People thought she was doing a brave and courageous thing, maybe even a crazy thing, taking a trip around the world alone.

Now that I've read this book, I find myself reflecting on it and see how Meg Peterson's journey through Africa and Asia had so many facets. It was a time to be alone, a time to make sense of important relationships, and a time to rediscover life and the world. She did do that. Sometimes with humor and often with gusto, daring and spice! I laughed when I read where she got her book title.

Meg paints more than words with her descriptions. She paints entire scenarios. Through her words,I got to experience geographical and political conditions in far reaches of the world that I might never get to visit. She also shared fascinating conversations with many intriguing and colorful people. From her angle of vision, life is full of adventures even with all its pitfalls and glories.

Finally, her book allows us a glimpse into the soul of another person, Meg Peterson, and sharing her story is what makes this book a page turner.

I really expected to love this book. The material is super interesting, but I just couldn't relate to the author. I'm not sure why. I have struggled just to get through half of it. I'm not sure what it is, but maybe it's a generation gap (I was born in 1970)? I kind of feel like I'm reading something written by my grandmother. I don't want to be mean because I suspect that if I met Meg in real life, we would probably have a very interesting conversation. I think maybe her personality just doesn't come through in the writing...

This is an inspiring and empowering book to read. I loved it!
This lady carries us along as readers on her journey and transfers her can-do attitude and determination. She gifts us by sharing her stories and experiences. Her candor and wisdom permeate the pages that seem to shout, "I did it!"
And she makes us believe we can, too!

A 58-yr-old mother of 5 grown children, a writer, inveterate hiker, traveller, well-educated daughter of a Methodist preacher, Meg Peterson is not simply a skilled travel writer, she is also a gifted observer of the human condition. This is easy, fluent reading at its best.

Having reached the point of realizing she can longer live the way she has been, she determines to make a life of her own choosing, not dominated by men. She divorces her alcoholic husband, opts to spend eight months travelling alone through Africa and Asia with only a backpack, passport, travellers' checks and her camera. She can describe the history and breathtaking beauty of the Taj Mahal, and in the next sentence painfully examine with great empathy the lives of the deprived children. That Meg loves people, and is loved in return, is evident in the joy and excitement of meeting new and old friends. She writes of these things in a natural, open, honest manner that made me feel I was accompanying her, watching her develop a new emotional life. A romantic episode in Nepal challenges her resolve, but she holds true to her new ideals.

Her personal magnetism and versatility are clear. As one of her acquaintances remarks, "Meg, you are some woman." And this is some book, a real joy.

Meg Peterson has written a truly fascinating book. It documents her adventures backpacking, solo, through portions of Africa and Asia, with a determination to rediscover herself. I greatly admire her courage and endurance.
Meg spent most of her time among the local people, away from the safety of the tourist venue, observing and appreciating a wide variety of cultures. Her descriptive passages of the scenic beauty she discovered are exquisitely painted in layers, as with a fine brush, detailed and poetic.
I would highly recomment this book to anyone who needs the inspiration to get out and see the world, or to someone, like me, who enjoys traveling from the comfort of a favorite easy chair. I had difficulty putting this book down, until the end.

I loved this book. I read it cover to cover in less than two days. My hat is off to Meg, travelling alone to all those exotic places. We need to have more books about intelligent, capable, kind and independent women leading challenging and interesting lives.

I just finished reading Meg Peterson's wonderful book, Madam, Have You Ever Really Been Happy? I feel like I just got home from an around the world trip. Every page is full of information and so descriptive. I felt I was with her every step of the way. So well written. Such an adventurer.

Meeting Meg Peterson as she explores Africa, Asia and her own feelings about herself with a perceptive eye and a thoughtful upbeat spirit made me happy to think that at 75 there still is a lot for me to see and do in this world, and there is nothing that needs to hold me back. Thanks Meg.

I knew I would like Madam because I always love a travelog - I enjoy traveling vicariously. But this turned out to be so much more! It reads like a novel and pulls one along from one adventure to the next.
Meg's ease and naturalness with dialog is impressive. There are several very lovely poetic passages, and the characterization and description made me feel I knew the people she introduces. Her journey is intriguing and endlessly interesting.
I could hardly bear for Madam to end. There's an Epilog and a Postscript, and they help much, but they're also tantalizing. I look forward to reading the sequel about Meg's later journeys.