ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS: A TIBETAN FAMILY’S EPIC JOURNEY FROM OPPRESSION TO FREEDOM by Yangzom Brauen

Yangzom Brauen, Across Many Mountains:  A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2011, 306 pages).

Also available for Nook and Kindle and as an audiobook. 

 (MEMOIR)

Reviewed by Sue Dayton

          Across Many Mountains is a memoir that spans the lives of three Tibetan women.  The book is written by Yangzom Brauen and tells the story of her grandmother, her mother and herself.  Yangzom’s grandmother, Kunsang Wangmo, grew up in Tibet and was a Buddhist nun; she was married to a monk.  In the early 1950’s, because of the Chinese invasion of Tibet, Kunsang, her husband and their two young children began a treacherous hike across the Himalayas into India.  During this long and cold journey her husband and their young son died. 

             Kunsang and her daughter Sonam lived in several Indian refugee camps over the years and faced much adversity.   Much later a young Swiss man, Martin Brauen, befriended them.  Sonam married Martin and along with Kunsang they relocated to Switzerland where the book’s author, Yangzom Brauen, was born.  The book then follows Yangzom’s life and how she came to tell this story about her mother and grandmother.

          This is a powerful story of courage, family, love, and fortitude in the face of unbelievable obstacles.  It is also a story that helps the reader learn and gain understanding of Tibetan culture and customs.   My daughter Kathy read this book and recommended it to me and I’m so glad she did!

 

THE PRESIDENTS CLUB: INSIDE THE WORLD’S MOST EXCLUSIVE FRATERNITY by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, The Presidents Club – Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity (Simon and Schuster: New York, 2012) 641 Pages.

Also available for Kindle and Nook and on CD.

(NON-FICTION)

Reviewed by Sue Dayton.

The Presidents Club is a book about the fraternity of former presidents of the United States and their relationships with the sitting president. It begins with Harry Truman’s presidency and his relationship with Herbert Hoover and continues up until the presidency of Barack Obama. The format of the book is that each chapter looks at a particular president and former president i.e., Johnson and Eisenhower, Reagan and Nixon, Bush and Clinton. An idea is presented that former presidents are bound together by their experience in the Oval office. The book relates many examples of former presidents as confidants and mentors to the current president, in many cases crossing party lines. Also, there are times when former presidents have stepped up to serve, such as Hoover after WW 2, and, more recently, Bush and Clinton in Haiti. For me, this book served as a great review of the presidency from the 1940’s until the present time.

Chuck and I were fortunate to attend the Chautauqua Institution in western New York this past summer. The topic for the week was titled “The Presidents Club”. Two of the speakers for the week were the authors of this book, Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy who are both editors at Time Magazine. They spoke three times during the week: once on the content of the book, once on the writing of the book, and once about the current presidential campaign. We found them both to be well informed, engaging and articulate.

I recommend this book for those with an interest in American history, particularly the presidency.