At only five years old, Saroo Brierley got lost on a train in India. Unable to read or write or recall the name of his hometown or even his own last name, he survived alone for weeks on the rough streets of Calcutta before ultimately being transferred to an agency and adopted by a couple in Australia. Always wondered about his origins, and with the advent of Google Earth, he had the opportunity to look for the needle in a haystack he once called home....

Describes how the author was accidentally separated from his family and home in India as a child, how he survived as an orphan in Kolkata, his adoption by an Australian family, and his search for his biological family as an adult.