Bali Highs is not a typical holiday romance. It is an intensely personal narrative born from real experiences. In the early 2000s, Turner found himself on a family trip to Bali, meant to be a simple retreat. Instead, he was thrust into the unfolding tragedy of Indonesia’s transmigration program. While tourists flocked to Bali’s beaches, conflict simmered in neighboring islands, where Christian communities were uprooted, displaced, and attacked by extremist groups. This environment of cultural upheaval and human suffering forms the stark, sobering backdrop of the memoir.
The heart of Bali Highs lies in a chance encounter with a 19-year-old Javanese woman. What began as a fleeting moment on a surfers’ beach turned into months of mystery and longing, culminating in a desperate, unexpected phone call from Europe that reignited old feelings and ethical dilemmas. Turner’s storytelling is both brutal and tender, refusing to sanitize the moral ambiguities of his choices.
The memoir explores themes of escapism, complicity, and human desire, revealing the contradictions at the core of travel itself. Readers are invited to question the boundary between help and exploitation, between fantasy and truth. Turner’s award-winning copywriting skills shine through in a narrative that is vivid, direct, and unfiltered, bringing Southeast Asia to life in all its chaotic beauty and darkness.
Turner is no stranger to the power of words. His career includes D&AD Gold and Silver awards and a widely read motoring website that attracted over 1.6 million subscribers. With Bali Highs, he turns that razor-sharp observational style on himself and the world he tried to escape.
Bali Highs is ideal for readers aged 30–60 who love travel literature with real grit. Fans of Alex Garland’s The Beach and John Burdett’s Bangkok-set crime novels will find much to savor here. This is a memoir for those unafraid of uncomfortable questions and haunted memories.
Availability:
Tom Turner’s Bali Highs is now available worldwide on Amazon in paperback and eBook formats.
For more information, visit: www.thethomasturner.com
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