Last Seen in Lhasa

Sep 21, 2024 9:30 PM

Author:Claire Scobie

Last Seen in Lhasa

Some go to Tibet seeking inspiration, others for adventure. The award-winning journalist, Claire Scobie, found both when she left her ordinary life in London and went to the Himalayas in search of a rare red lily. Her journey took her to Pemako, where few Westerners have set foot and where the myth of Shangri-la was born. It was here she became friends with Ani, an unusual Tibetan nun who was to change her life.

Through seven journeys in Tibet, Claire chronicles a rapidly changing world - where monks talk on mobiles and Lhasa's sex industry thrives. But it is Ani, a penniless wanderer with a rich heart, who leaves an indelible impression. Together, in a culture where freedom of expression is forbidden, they risk arrest. And they forge an abiding friendship, based on intuition and deep respect.

Evoking the luminous landscape of snow peaks and wild alpine gardens, Claire Scobie captures the paradoxes of contemporary Tibet, a land steeped in religion, struggling against oppression and galloping towards modernity. Last Seen in Lhasa is a unique story of insight and adventure that can touch us all.

Reviews

Stylish, elegant prose in this absorbing and rewarding account

—— Observer

A rich, profound and deeply moving book...gripping

—— Time Out

A love letter to friendship

—— Sydney Morning Herald

Required reading... laced with gentle humour and great affection

—— Sunday Telegraph

Truly wonderful...not only a deeply moving and inspiring account of a friendship but also an enthralling insight into a vanishing world

—— Mick Brown, author of The Spiritual Tourist

Claire Scobie's refreshing book shows how people can see their lives differently

—— Xinran, author of Sky Burial

An intimate and moving account of a way of life that is fast disappearing

—— Monica Ali, author of Brick Lane

Claire Scobie brings a great eye and a great heart to this wonderful story of place, friendship and spirituality. It's an inner journey as well as an outer one, but the detail, subtlety and surprises of the outer journey make her experiences of Tibet utterly compelling

—— Stephanie Dowrick, author of Choosing Happiness

John Gray, the counter-prophet who scorns all claims that humans can transcend the human condition ... You don't have to agree with Gray to enjoy the fireworks

—— Marek Kohn , Independent

Elegant ... He is on to something important regarding the delusion that science consists of indefinite progress

—— Sunday Telegraph

Gray is an engaging writer, an entertaining historian and a controversialist whose opinions can never be taken for granted

—— New Statesman

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