The Heart of the Buddha: A Novel

Elsie Sze
Emerald Book Company (2010)
ISBN 9781934572306
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (01/10)

 

This was a beautifully crafted story about love in a culture that I knew very little about – Bhutan.  The author did an excellent job in capturing the essence of the people and the beauty of the country.  It seems that Bhutan is a well-kept secret. 

The adventure starts when librarian Marian Souza accepts a six-month post in Bhutan to revamp the Thimphu Public Library.  She has her work cut out for her as no internet access has reached the country yet and she finds the outdated Dewey Decimal system as the library’s main catalogue.  

With the six months coming to a close, Marian contacts her twin sister Ruth and tells her that she has decided to stay on and travel in Bhutan.  Ruth begins to get concerned when she stops hearing from Marian and Marian doesn’t show up for Christmas.  After a strange phone call from Marian, Ruth receives a record of all her adventures in Bhutan in Marian’s memoir.  Ruth books a flight and arranges for a guide so that she can follow Marian’s footsteps to find out what happened to her.  She reads the Memoir on the way to Bhutan and is really worried when she finds out that Marian fell in love with the Bhutanese monk. 

As Ruth follows the trail that Marian has left behind, she gets to experience the beauty of the rich culture and the country too.  She also finds herself and love on her trek through Bhutan.  But Ruth’s worry intensifies when she finds out that Marian followed her monk through the dangerous journey of sneaking into Tibet. 

Like Ruth and Marian, in the end I discovered that the real meaning behind the “Heart of the Buddha” is love. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it for anyone who loves a well-crafted story that captures the essence of an exotic place and people.  I learned a lot about the Bhutanese people and really felt like I was traveling in the country.  

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