Founder Lucy Mathen has written two books: A Runaway Goat and Outgrowing the Big.

BBC broadcaster Samira Ahmed has called a Runaway Goat ‘required reading in governance and business schools as a case study in how to get things done.’
Best-selling writer Simon Barnes has praised Outgrowing the Big as ‘a triumph.’ And legendary Irish writer Dervla Murphy has written - ‘I hope this truly outstanding book flies off the shelves!’

Both books are now available in India. Contact Mohit Batra at rajatbookcorner@gmail.com +91 982906979

"What a many-layered book! Part travel narrative, sketching lively vignettes of the real, enduring India behind the tinselly 'Growth Society' facade. Part thriller--- how is she going to keep the show on the road? Part succinct, shrewd analyses of the obese Aid Industry. And overall a truly inspiring example of what can be achieved by one individual whose integrity and energy have released many thousands from the prison of blindness."
Review of A Runaway Goat by writer Dervla Murphy

’At first glance ‘Outgrowing the Big’ may seem a distinctively 21st-century book, vividly illustrating the extent to which new communication technologies can enable good deeds. Yet its roots go deep, extending intercontinentally over a few millennia. Societies have always benefitted from the exercise of compassion in simple ways, achieving much for many through the exercise of imagination plus hard work.
I hope this truly outstanding book flies off the shelves!’
Review of Outgrowing the Big by Dervla Murphy

ORDER your copies by emailing lucymathen@yahoo.com or call 0207 359 1315/ 07957300136
All proceeds both in India and the UK fund cataract surgery for blind patients.

Copies of Outgrowing the Big are also available at
No Alibis
83 Botanic Ave, Belfast BT7 1JL
This independent bookshop hosted the launch of A Runaway Goat for which we are grateful.

There is now also an audio version of A Runaway Goat. Lucy Mathen is offering this free to all blind or partially sighted people. Others are asked to donate to enable someone to see.
We are most grateful to Justin Hill at The Other Operation recording studio https://theotheroperation.com/ who did such a good job with the audio book.

More reviews of Outgrowing the Big

‘How many books about development in the poorest part of India can make you laugh unreservedly and feel on finishing each chapter as if you’ve invited an energising young person round for the evening? Mathen writes very well, the journalist within her, and observes with a “mirror up to nature”, the doctor part of her.’

Ophthalmologist Aideen Landers

If you want to restore sight to the blind, there should really be no excuses stopping you doing just that” - and Dr Lucy Mathen has no time for excuses. Lucy is one of those rare individuals with the gift of making things happen. Her story reveals a woman of single minded determination, selflessness and courage – not to mention the boundless energy which has taken her up the Himalayas, through jungles, across the great mother Ganges to remote islands and into rebel-held no go areas. Her charity, Second Sight , has the straightforward aim of curing curable blindness in the poorest parts of India.
Originally a journalist, Lucy retrained as an ophthalmologist in her thirties after a life changing meeting with a struggling but dedicated surgeon in war-torn Afghanistan.
Lucy was convinced that to achieve her goal she must take a “worm’s eye view”, meeting people on the ground rather than imbibing the received wisdom of western donors.
In A Runaway Goat, Lucy recounts her adventures in a vivid and colourful style. She sticks unswervingly to her values - every penny raised by the charity is spend on restoring sight, with no expenditure on salaries or administration. As the work has gained momentum, Lucy has fulfilled her dream of seeing the work taken over by Indian ophthalmologists willing to settle permanently in Bihar, where Second Sight now concentrates its efforts.
The second chapter of Lucy’s story is told in Outgrowing the Big - a reference to the “Small is Beautiful” philosophy of Second Sight which contrasts so sharply with the inefficiency, disconnection and bloated bureaucracy characteristic of too many western NGOs and donor organisations. It captures the wonderful spirit of Second Sight, the most effective and life transforming charity I have come across.’

Reviewer Caroline Hand

‘Just 2-3 lines will inspire you…storytelling of commitment, focus, idealism and people versus corporate marketing.’
Indian Social justice activist, Harsh Vardhan

‘I have just finished reading the book as I have barely put it down since it arrived except to work, eat and sleep. Such an eye opener for me.’
Lawyer Marie Huntley