‘If you quit, you waste gift of life.’
Thailand, 2004. Owen Sterling and his wife Sarah are on their honeymoon anticipating a bright future together when tragedy strikes. Sarah is swept away in a tsunami. Owen’s grief overwhelms him and freezes him. After a period back in the USA, he returns to Asia to try to make peace.
A chance encounter in Bangkok results in Owen meeting Suchin, a young Thai woman facing her own mortality. Suchin has a dream: she would like to see the mountains before she dies. Owen wants to make her dream a reality and buys them tickets to Nepal so they can climb into the Himalayas.
Can Suchin survive long enough to realise her dream? Can Owen face his own challenges?
I found this a bittersweet read. While I initially had trouble accepting that two strangers could undertake such a journey together, I was quickly swept up in the journey. I liked Suchin and hoped (against all the odds) that she would (somehow) recover. I wanted Owen to find his way. I wanted them both to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Life does not always work out the way we want it to. Sadly.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
