Beyond the Mountain

I have reads hundred of nonfiction and dozens of fiction books on the subject of mountaineering. Beyond the Mountain is the best written and most compelling novel relating to climbing I have ever read. Elizabeth Arthur is an extremely gifted novelist. Her story of the life of a complicated woman set against the background of a climb of one of the world's highest mountains is elegantly written and extremely moving. Arthur's sensitive portrayal of Nepal captures the essence of that wonderful and peculiar kingdom and true ambivalence of many Westerners toward it. Her images are vivid, her prose lyrical yet precise. Arlene Blum, author of Annapurna: A Woman's Place