This memoir is a touching and personal portrait of Tibet and Tibetans through three generations of women, whose story, though long on the periphery of my knowledge, I never really knew. This family history, lovingly told by the granddaughter, Yangzom Brauen, and deftly
…more translated by Katy Derbyshire, paints a vivid picture of life in traditional Tibet, up to and beyond the point where it is disrupted by Chinese incursion. Brauen’s grandmother, a Buddhist nun, is a central figure of archetypal stature who anchors the family for the full extent of the tumultuous 20th Century and beyond, from the homeland bravely onward into exile. History is nothing more than the accumulation of individual narratives, and ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS is a worthy addition to the grand and tragic historical narrative of Tibet. (less)