Buttrose recorded hours of interviews with both Saroo and his adoptive mother and completed a 70,000-word manuscript in a hotel room in Kolkata to meet a tough three-month deadline set by the publisher.

[3] Karina Wetherbee of Vail Daily stated "There is a real feeling of catharsis when reading Brierley's astounding narrative, in the classic sense of a happy ending, for the journey of the author as a boy — and then again as a young man — evokes the audacity of a fable, but it is set in the real world, a place where wonderment and miraculous occurrences can often seem wanting".

[4] Dianne Dempsey of The Sydney Morning Herald commented "Brierley writes in a straightforward manner without trying to do anything fancy except tell a remarkable story.

He concludes the book on a reflective note... Brierley's journey is inspirational and deeply moving; it's another reminder of how potent passion and the human spirit actually are".

[7] In 2016, the book was adapted into major international feature film Lion, directed by Garth Davis and starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara.