Dispatches from the Cowgirl

A memoir about life, culture, and the places where they intersect

Would you move to Africa?

For Julie Tully, a cowgirl who married a United States naval officer, the answer was a no-brainer: Yes!

A cowgirl falls into Africa like Alice into Wonderland, unveiling the little-known world of an American military spouse serving amongst the world’s diplomatic corps.

Part travelogue, part midlife coming-of-age story, DISPATCHES FROM THE COWGIRL takes you to the Africa Julie Tully fell in love with and found hard to leave.

Dispatches from the Cowgirl was the IPBA Ben Franklin Award Gold Winner for memoirs released in 2022.

three images from Julie Tully's life: a journal and drink overlooking Lac Abbe, a horseback rider, and a shot taken in a rearview mirror in the desert in Djibouti
cover of Julie Tully's book Dispatches from the Cowgirl with an image of boots, a palm tree, and a truck driving on a rustic road and the subtitle "through the looking glass with a Navy Diplomat's wife" and "a memoir"

How I wish I had Dispatches from the Cowgirl to prepare me for my own military family adventures overseas! Tully’s memoir will resonate with all readers, both civilian and military, wherever they might find themselves in this far-flung world.

– —Siobhan Fallon, author of You Know When the Men are Gone and The Confusion of Languages

About the Author

Cowgirl-turned-nomadic Navy spouse, Julie Tully writes about life, culture, and the places where they intersect.
Julie’s writing has appeared in Legacy Magazine, InDependent, and Your Teen for Parents. Her quirky lifestyle has taken her around the world, from rural Northern California to Europe and Africa. Now, after spending the past eighteen years overseas, Julie and her family have embarked on an even greater adventure — rediscovering the United States.

Praise for Julie

Julie Tully’s memoir is a vicarious visit to expat life in Africa.

Suzanne Kamata, Clarion Review for Foreword Reviews

Dispatches from the Cowgirl is a well-written personal memoir of an American family’s experience in Africa. Told in short anecdotal chapters it highlights the truism that home is where the heart is and…there is enough incident and personal detailing to provide a valuable insight into the life of a military family abroad. 

IndieReader

Tully’s memoir captures her extraordinary experience of living in Africa as the spouse of a naval diplomat in vivid detail. She’s charming, as is the book…this is a fascinating account of one woman’s journey around the earth. 

BookLife/Publisher's Weekly

flatlay of article in legacy magazine by Julie Tully

Other Writings

From service and sacrifice to parenting, take a peek at Julie’s other stories.

Julie in a canoe in Cameroon

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