The Road Back by Liz Harris

I give this book major points for uniqueness, in story, setting, and ending. It's also very heavy on grief, how people handle it, and things parents can do wrong. At least, that's what I felt as I read this.

Patricia  has been living in the shadow of her brother her entire life. Her brother was her father's pride and joy, but he suffers seizures. Some part of her father blames her for it and no matter what she does or accomplishes, she isn't as good as what James could have been or the situation would have been better had James been there. This aspect; her father, got pretty sickening at times. But it happens. Mega dose of reality.

So when she travels to Ladakh with him, a place her remembers fondly from the war, she feels like the golden child for the first time ever, but then she falls in love with Kalden, their "pony boy."

First of all the fifties and sixties... We're talking different cultures, countries, and colors here. And this is your plot. I found it a weak plot considering the length of the book, but I appreciated it all the same. You can imagine her controlling father is not going to react well. The main question is how is Patricia going to  handle it?

Kalden meanwhile, is the fourth son, and they get nothing. He has to be a monk. How can a monk love a woman?

Very rich in descriptive details. If you want to travel to Tibet or the Himalayas and don't have the funds or the time, this is the book for you. As I said above, I appreciated the parenting/grief story line.

I especially liked the scene in which Patricia finally woke up to something about herself...
"That girl had been so certain that after years of being in the shadow of her father's love for her brother, she had stepped out from that shadow and been seen for herself..."

I appreciated the unique ending as well, but I have to admit, in the end, I did not like Patricia and I was disappointed with her and her choices, that she never really stuck up to her father. Three bikes.