Last Seen in Lhasa

The recent protests in Burma brought to the fore the issue of marginalization of cultures and the oppression of a race. Tibet too is once again in the news with the Dalai Lama's tete tete with Bush in the US. Last Seen In Lhasa : The story of an extraordinary friendship in modern Tibet is an engaging glimpse into a dying culture - yet at the same time it transcends its theme of discovery of Tibet through travel - at its deepest core the book remains spiritual.

Claire Scobie weaves a brilliant narrative thread - her seven passages through Tibet's heartland captures beautifully its changing landscape. As a journalist, she finds herself plucked from hep London to one of the most obscure places on earth - Pemako. The search: an almost mystical red lily, an eponymous symbol for her own search for that BIG question - the meaning of it all.

Through the course of it, Claire finds herself drawn to a Tibetan nun - Ani. In a way, the book is as much Ani's story as it is Claire's. Ani's peace and her wonderful capacity to find the joy in life lights up the book.

Last Seen In Lhasa is a story of courage; of truth; of despair; and drawing one's own path.

It is a also book that made me wonder if Tibet's fight to reclaim itself may already be a lost one. It is heavy reading for sure - not the sort of "let me read it while having chocolate and coffee" kind of book.

But gripping. Absorbing. And very very special.