Brief Description
After laborious training and preparation, Kincaid and a group of botanists trek the Himalayas. Along the way she moves easily between closely observed, down-to-earth descriptions of the trek and larger musings about gardens, nature, seed gathering, home, and family.
Learn More about the Book
In this delightful hybrid of a bookpart memoir and part travel journalthe bestselling author takes us deep into the mountains of Nepal with a trio of botanist friends in search of native Himalayan plants that will grow in her Vermont garden. Alighting from a plane in the dramatic Annapurna Valley, the ominous signs of Nepal's Maoist guerrillas are all aroundan alarming presence that accompanies the travelers throughout their trek. Undaunted, the group sets off into the mountains with Sherpas and bearers, entering an exotic world of spectacular landscapes, vertiginous slopes, isolated villages, herds of yaks, and giant rhododendron, thirty feet tall. The landscape and flora and so much else of what Kincaid finds in the Himalayaincluding fruit bats, colorful Buddhist prayer flags, and the hated leeches that plague much of the tripare new to her, and she approaches it all with an acute sense of wonder and a deft eye for detail. In beautiful, introspective prose, Kincaid intertwines the harrowing Maoist encounters with exciting botanical discoveries, fascinating daily details, and lyrical musings on gardens, nature, home, and family."
Review Quotes
1. "Travel writing at its best." "-- Sunday Times" (London)
"Count on magic when you read Jamaica Kincaid." "-- Boston Globe"
"There's tension, suspense and the exhilaration of discovery." "-- Dallas Morning News"
2. "Travel writing at its best." "--Sunday Times" (London)
"Count on magic when you read Jamaica Kincaid." "--Boston Globe"
"There's tension, suspense and the exhilaration of discovery." "--Dallas Morning News"
3. "Travel writing at its best." Sunday Times (London)
"Count on magic when you read Jamaica Kincaid." Boston Globe
"There's tension, suspense and the exhilaration of discovery." Dallas Morning News"
