We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies -- Tsering Yangzom Lama

Named a Most Anticipated Book by:
The Millions * Ms. Magazine * Bustle
For readers of Homegoing and The Leavers, a compelling and profound debut novel about a Tibetan family's journey through exile.

In the wake of China's invasion of Tibet throughout the 1950s, Lhamo and her younger sister, Tenkyi, arrive at a refugee camp in Nepal. They survived the dangerous journey across the Himalayas, but their parents did not. As Lhamo-haunted by the loss of her homeland and her mother, a village oracle-tries to rebuild a life amid a shattered community, hope arrives in the form of a young man named Samphel and his uncle, who brings with him the ancient statue of the Nameless Saint-a relic known to vanish and reappear in times of need.

Decades later, the sisters are separated, and Tenkyi is living with Lhamo's daughter, Dolma, in Toronto. While Tenkyi works as a cleaner and struggles with traumatic memories, Dolma vies for a place as a scholar of Tibetan Studies. But when Dolma comes across the Nameless Saint in a collector's vault, she must decide what she is willing to do for her community, even if it means risking her dreams.

Breathtaking in its scope and powerful in its intimacy, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a gorgeously written meditation on colonization, displacement, and the lengths we'll go to remain connected to our families and ancestral lands. Told through the lives of four people over fifty years, this novel provides a nuanced, moving portrait of the little-known world of Tibetan exiles.

Author: Tsering Yangzom Lama
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 05/17/2022
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.10w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781635576412

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 12/01/2021 pg. 9
Publishers Weekly 03/14/2022
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2022
Booklist 03/15/2022 pg. 52