Santa Barbara author John Holman will talk about his memoir “A Runaway Life” (the sequel to his “Pom’s Odyssey”) and sign copies of the book, 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 at Tecolote Bookstore, 1470 East Valley Road, Montecito.

When Holman retired from UCSB, he took a couple of years to reflect and conclude that he’d lived three lives. What emerged was “Pom’s Odyssey,” a memoir of his second life: coming of age in Australia as an 18-year-old immigrant.

His second memoir “A Horse in My Suitcase” embraces childhood and adolescence spent on his grandfather’s farm in West Sussex, England, during the 1950s and early 1960s. 

At the end of “Pom’s Odyssey,” at the lowest point in his life in Australia, Holman meets Martha, a California girl who changes the trajectory of his life.

The start of his third memoir “A Runaway Life” sees John and Martha on the run — not from the law, but from the weight of expectations.

Hurtling across the snowy Canadian prairies on a Greyhound Bus, they’re chasing a future neither can fully picture. Holman, a directionless dreamer, worries about bringing Martha, a free-spirited Californian, into his conservative English roots.

But love has a way of steering even the most uncertain paths. From financial struggles to family crises, their journey from Australia to West Sussex and back is anything but smooth. Yet, through it all, they cling to each other.

Just when they think they’ve made it, life throws another curveball. Can they outrun the chaos and build a life together? Or will the weight of it all pull them apart?

Holman’s book talk is sponsored by Kalyra Wines.