Gone Guru by Nadine Brown is a funny, messy romp

Noni Barlow is broke, jet-lagged and alone in New York with nothing but a dream and a manuscript.

When her idol Joyce Carol Oates tells her that Born Again memoirs are so ‘last year’, Noni’s big break starts to feel like a big mistake.

To add to the general weirdness, she meets her new flatmate only once before he vanishes into thin air – and that’s even before Noni discovers he is a transcendental meditation guru with a massive following, and a million-dollar trust fund.

Aided by an octogenarian social worker, and the sarcastic daughter of her landlady, Noni finds herself deep in the case of the disappearing guru.

Is this the new plot line she needs to save her writing career?

Perth writer Nadine Browne’s debut novel Gone Guru may begin as a cosy mystery about a missing meditation teacher in Manhattan, but there’s a much darker story underneath. At its heart is a woman rebuilding her identity after escaping a doomsday cult in the Australian desert, while trying to make sense of a new life in New York. The novel is dark, funny and ultimately about relationships, connection and the messy process of becoming yourself.

Danae Gibson chats with author Nadine Browne.