Across many mountains - Yangzom Brauen

Kusang never thought she would leave Tibet. Growing up in a remote mountain village, she married a monk and gave birth to two children. But then the Chinese army invaded, and their peaceful lives were destroyed forever. Thousands were tortured, prison camps were set up and Kusang's monastery was destroyed.

The family were forced to flee across the Himalayas in the depths of winter, battling cold, fear, starvation and exhaustion. It took a month to reach India, where they were then passed from one refugee camp to another, all the while fighting hunger and disease. Kusang's husband and her younger child died, but somehow Kusang and her daughter Sonam survived.

In Across Many Mountains Sonam's daughter, Yangzom, born in safety in Switzerland, has written the story of her inspirational mother and grandmother's fight for survival, and their lives in exile. It is an extraordinary story of determination, love and endurance.

Born in 1980 to a Swiss father and Tibetan mother, Yangzom Brauen is an actress and political activist. She lives in both Los Angeles and Berlin and has appeared in a number of German and American films. She is also very active in the Free Tibet movement, making regular radio broadcasts about Tibet and organising public demonstrations against the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

We have a glimpse here of Tibet, before and after the Chinese occupation, that is unsentimental and down to earth. Yangzom Brauen has given us an informative and even surprising picture of a place and time that most readers will never see
Literary Review - Jonathan Mirsky

This book paints a vivid picture of Tibetan experience... Through the personal stories of three women from one Tibetan family, it recalls the imposition of Chinese rule in Tibet and the subsequent efforts of many Tibetans to preserve their identity and treasured values in exile
His Holiness the Dalai Lama

At once grim and uplifting. A necessary book
Colin Thubron

A brave and beautiful story'
Image Magazine