In this nonfiction book, “Never Leave the Dogs Behind,” Brianna Madia discusses her life after she separates from her husband of over a decade and later divorces him.  Madia is devastated by the divorce.

Her husband was the only person she had been with during her 20s. She struggles to find out where her place is in life without him.  She talks about her depression and destructive behavior following the divorce. 

Madia is a social media influencer and touches on her journey in the social media spotlight. In Madia’s previous book, “Nowhere for Very Long,” as a nomadic wanderer, she recorded her travels in her big van named Bertha on these social media sites. She mostly traveled around the Southwest and recounted her adventures with the dogs and her husband.  It is not surprising that she chooses to live in the desert when she leaves her husband. 

She has three dogs and she has to find a good place for all of them to live and chooses the desert outside of Moab.  She buys an undeveloped piece of land and puts a camper trailer on it.

She recounts the struggles of living by herself and providing all the  necessities for herself and the dogs. She has bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies. She doesn’t care much about her wellbeing and the only thing that keeps her going is the happiness of her dogs. 

She eventually adopts a fourth dog and begins a routine of living off the grid.  She has to go to town for water and to use the bathroom. She has no air conditioning and can’t be inside  the camper during the day because the weather can hit triple digits.  She has a small solar panel that can only run a box fan at night for cooling the trailer.

Throughout the book Madia feels like a failure. She doesn’t realize how strong she really is. She demonstrates how she can take care of herself and her dogs.

She explains how she lives in the desert with no air conditioning, WiFi or running water.  She shows the beauty of the desert through her descriptions and the dangers of the landscape and amazing desert storms.

This book is a good read.  It starts out with sadness and self-destruction but ends up with happiness. The book proves that dogs really can help improve our lives as well as our mental health. In the end, it’s all about the dogs! 

This book is available for checkout at the Lincoln County Library and on the Libby app.