Girls born in suburban Sydney in the 1960s were rarely called Sacha, particularly girls who aspired to be Russian. Enduring her ordinary-as, non-Russian name was the first of many challenges `Sacha' faced growing up: brown socks, too many teeth and a flat-as-a-crepe chest.But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And when the suppositories she was given to cure her asthma made her vomit, the doctors has another think and recommended ballet instead. Although having the wrong head, feet, and body for ballet, thanks in part to drinking too much pink milk and lemonless-lemonade, Sacha's determination to be Russian saw her push through and against the odds succeed in becoming something of a dancing star, surprising no-one more than her legendary dance teacher an actual Russian Mrs Tanya Pearson (Mrs P).But there is a dark side to success for Sacha, including the shattering discovery that the green room in the Sydney Opera House is not actually green. Along the way all this learning and discovery makes The Grass is Always Browner a laugh-out-loud memoir and a cautionary reminder that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, even in Australia.