Reviews

This is the story of three women across two generations, all Tibetan refugees. First, two sisters make the difficult walk into Nepal with their parents soon after the Red Army arrives in their part of Tibet. They end up in a camp that becomes a permanent community, one sister dutiful and who stays, and the other who does well in school, so well that the community works to get her to higher education in India, an experience she finds overwhelming. Then there is the daughter of a sister, who attends university in Toronto, living with the aunt who reached Toronto before she did and who becomes involved in trying to repatriate an artifact she sees in a wealthy Canadian's home.

This is a vivid portrayal of what life is like for refugees and for their children, who always feel their strongest connection to a place they can't even visit. This is a book set in the Tibetan communities of Nepal and Canada, but written for western readers; explaining cultural practices and how it feels to live as a permanent exile. The plot, involving a stolen artifact and star-crossed lovers was fun, even if it lost a little momentum at the end.

emccoy28's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

4.5 ⭐️
Loved this story, the history and the landscape.

The ending felt a bit rushed; it felt like a big part of the closure and yet it only took up the last 40 pages? But yet, the rest of the book is still packed with storylines and character development so, it worked.

logogryph's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

msnreynolds's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Beautifully written generational story about the impacts of colonization and our connection to our lands.

bentohbox's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book was beautiful. An exploration of culture, family, and history wrapped in the all-too-familiar milieu of conflict, migration, and the dreams one generation has for the next. I appreciated how women-centered this was, as well as the many Tibetan cultural references/topics that were covered across the book. Being something I know absolutely nothing about, it was enlightening and intriguing to learn while reading.

I gave it 4 stars because as great as it was, I still hoped for more. I think it easily could have been longer, deeper, and more complex of a novel. However, it was still a great read. Important in its educational and literary aspects.

azadeh's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I loved this book very much! Detailed stories of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, India and other parts of the world were eye opening. Seems there's no where in the world where the local people treat immigrants or refugees with respect. I didn't know much about the history of Tibet due to my own ignorance but learned a lot through this book. I listened to the author's interview on the Scotiabank Giller prize Youtube channel before starting to read the book and really admired the writer for their years of research and diligence in writing this debut novel. I absolutely LOVED the conversations between Dolma and her profs which amazingly showed this friction between people with lived experience (from a specific culture and history) and the scientists who study that culture and history and do research on them. The part where the prof talked about their visits to Tibet while Dolma, a Tibetan, could not go there was so touching.
I only gave 4 stars because I felt at some parts the story lost its attraction and became quite slow but overall was a great book and recommend everyone to read it.

sarhemmm's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

More...