In the late 1960s, riding the crest of the counterculture movement, Cea Sunrise Person’s family left a comfortable existence in California to live off the land in Canada. But unlike most commune dwellers of the time, the Persons weren’t trying to build a new society - they wanted to escape civilisation altogether.

Led by Cea’s grandfather, they lived in a canvas teepee, grew pot, and hunted and gathered to survive. Living out her grandparents’ dream with her teenage mother Michelle, young Cea knew little of the world beyond her forest. Despite fierce storms, food shortages, and the occasional drug-and-sex infused party for visitors, it was a happy existence.

When Cea was five, her mother took her on the road with a new boyfriend. As the trio set upon a series of ill-fated adventures, Cea began to question both her highly unusual world and the hedonistic woman at the center of it - questions that eventually evolved into an all-consuming search for a more normal life. Finally, in her early teens, Cea realised she would have to make a choice as drastic as the one her grandparents once had in order to get the life she craved.

From nature child to international model by the age of thirteen, Cea’s astonishing saga is one of long-held family secrets and extreme family dysfunction, all in an incredibly unusual setting. It is also the story of one girl’s deep-seated desire for normality - a desire that enabled her to risk everything, overcome adversity, and achieve her dreams. Unapologetically honest and told with an emotional intensity, this is a coming of age story like no other, and a book for anyone who has ever longed for a life different than their own.