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The Shadow of Everest: A Novel
In The Shadow of Everest, Catherine Durand works in exotic Nepal, home of the iconic Mount Everest and the living goddess Kumari, to bring 21st century human rights principles to 19th century Nepal.
In the midst of a civil war between Maoist rebels and the government, Catherine struggles to develop programs to educate Nepali women about their rights under the Nepal Constitution and Nepali laws, to enforce Nepali laws that protect children, and to stop the trafficking of women and children. She is told she is not meeting the project’s goals and, unless there is improvement, she will be replaced.
To save her job, she travels to Maoist villages to gather information to use in designing programs she thinks will meet project goals and save her job. While traveling between villages, three renegade Maoists take her hostage, and she is threated with sexual assault. Rescued, she continues her travels and is interviewing women in a village when the Nepal Army shells the village. Catherine escapes to the mountains, and after spending a night in a hut without food or heat, finds a trail to a safe village and arranges her return to Kathmandu.
In the midst of a civil war between Maoist rebels and the government, Catherine struggles to develop programs to educate Nepali women about their rights under the Nepal Constitution and Nepali laws, to enforce Nepali laws that protect children, and to stop the trafficking of women and children. She is told she is not meeting the project’s goals and, unless there is improvement, she will be replaced.
To save her job, she travels to Maoist villages to gather information to use in designing programs she thinks will meet project goals and save her job. While traveling between villages, three renegade Maoists take her hostage, and she is threated with sexual assault. Rescued, she continues her travels and is interviewing women in a village when the Nepal Army shells the village. Catherine escapes to the mountains, and after spending a night in a hut without food or heat, finds a trail to a safe village and arranges her return to Kathmandu.
288 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 15, 2025
The story in a few words:
Nepal, a nation on the brink of chaos, a civil war rages between Maoist rebels and the government. Catherine Durand, an advocate for women’s rights is on a mission determined to empower women and combat child trafficking. She finds herself into a perilous journey where she faces life threatening dangers. This story will tell how she survived the unforgiving elements….
My thoughts:
I have mixed feeling about this story. Although well said and quite active I had a hard time staying totally engaged, why? I knew little about the history and the struggles that country endured. Two sides fighting: the Maoists’ aim was to benefit the poor sectors of society by uprooting the monarchy and feudalism…of course the government wanted everything status quo….
Catherine is a very naïve woman with an unrealistic objective to find every child kidnapped sold into prostitution and empower women to reach their full potential….but how to do this where men had the power to beat and expel them at a whim. I found she is too gung-ho to think right and the decisions she makes questionable….I did like the story, the theme so deferent one that brings you to a country not for its beauty (Mont Everest and scenery) but for its ugliness…
We find many characters from Catherine’s colleagues, her boss, the army personal, the Maoists fighters, the impoverished, people who helped Catherine and many more taking parts in making this a good story to enjoy.
“The Shadow of Everest” piqued my interest in learning more about the history of Nepal.
I received a copy of this book from The Book Whisperer for my thoughts: this is the way I see it.
Nepal, a nation on the brink of chaos, a civil war rages between Maoist rebels and the government. Catherine Durand, an advocate for women’s rights is on a mission determined to empower women and combat child trafficking. She finds herself into a perilous journey where she faces life threatening dangers. This story will tell how she survived the unforgiving elements….
My thoughts:
I have mixed feeling about this story. Although well said and quite active I had a hard time staying totally engaged, why? I knew little about the history and the struggles that country endured. Two sides fighting: the Maoists’ aim was to benefit the poor sectors of society by uprooting the monarchy and feudalism…of course the government wanted everything status quo….
Catherine is a very naïve woman with an unrealistic objective to find every child kidnapped sold into prostitution and empower women to reach their full potential….but how to do this where men had the power to beat and expel them at a whim. I found she is too gung-ho to think right and the decisions she makes questionable….I did like the story, the theme so deferent one that brings you to a country not for its beauty (Mont Everest and scenery) but for its ugliness…
We find many characters from Catherine’s colleagues, her boss, the army personal, the Maoists fighters, the impoverished, people who helped Catherine and many more taking parts in making this a good story to enjoy.
“The Shadow of Everest” piqued my interest in learning more about the history of Nepal.
I received a copy of this book from The Book Whisperer for my thoughts: this is the way I see it.
June 10, 2025
This was so entertaining and informative. I then went on a rabbit hole of investigating the history of the region and the civil war. I liked the way that it explained the civil war in a user friendly way. I did want to throw something at the main character being so selfish but if she wasn't like that then there wouldn't have been a story.
December 29, 2025
Fascinating story of people working to help women in Nepal while war is being waged. Nicely done!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews