The Circle of Karma (Zubaan Classics)

This richly descriptive and deeply philosophical novel from Bhutan is now available in a brand new paperback edition as part of the Zubaan Classics series to celebrate Zubaan’s 10th anniversary.

As a young girl, Tsomo asks her mother, “Where is the furthest I can travel?”
“Where,” her mother responds, “I don’t know. Where can a girl travel to?”

Caught in the everyday reality of household life, fifteen-year-old Tsomo is suddenly called upon to travel when her mother dies. She makes her first journey to a faraway village to light the ritual butter lamps in her mother?s memory. Beginning here, her travels take her to distant places, across Bhutan and into India. As she faces the world, a woman alone, Tsomo embarks on what becomes a life journey, in which she begins to find herself, and to grow as a person and a woman.

The first novel by a woman to come out of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, The Circle of Karma, written in English, is rich in detailed descriptions of ritual life. The measured pace of its prose, the many nuances of the story, the different levels at which the narrative works, weave a complex tapestry of life in which the style and content are closely interwoven, each informing and enriching the other.

Kunzang Choden is one of Bhutan’s foremost writers. In her early fifties, she has written a number of short stories and has also published collections of folk tales from Bhutan. This is her first novel.

“Kunzang Choden has given us an unforgettable tale of a simple woman’s pilgrimage and journey to self-realisation.” — Anna Sujata Mathai, The Hindu