Himalayan Hostages
This is a great read for pre-teens (or anyone young at heart) interested in Nepal, wildlife, or simply adventure! From run-ins with poachers and bears in the jungles of Bardiya, to struggling to survive in a mountain cave, to canoeing down the Karnali River, James and Alex (the protagonists) seem to find adventures wherever they go.
As an American journalist who grew up in Nepal myself, I loved the details in this book about wildlife, Nepali cultures, and politics / social problems. The book deals with a terrible time in Nepal's history - the Maoist civil war, when many ordinary people were stuck in the crossfire between rebels and the state security forces - without simplifying complex issues too much. The book's protagonists view the world from a unique vantage point as "Third Culture Kids." Wilson-Howarth, the author, shows her fondness for Nepal and Nepali people, and also demonstrates her lively imagination and story-telling ability!
Peter Gill
Snowfed Waters
It seems it is not enough for Jane Wilson-Howarth to have got completely under the skin of an entire country because in ‘Snowfed Waters’ she also manages to create a refreshing and ingenious plot mechanism that propels the reader at light-speed through a wholly absorbing story about self-awareness, redemption and ultimately personal salvation.
Each chapter contains the separate viewpoints of the six main characters; which provide the reader with a prismatic glance at the events as they unfold. Cultures clash from the start but as acceptance and understanding grow, the viewpoints become more unified. It is a skilful technique used subtly and with great verve. The book fairly fizzes with witty dialogue, unexpected plot twists and is set against the ravishingly described backdrop of the Himalayas.
As principle protagonist Sonia (a burnt-out Cambridge teacher in search of change) finds her western sensibilities challenged by what she initially sees as a primitive, unhygienic and dangerous country, her Nepali hosts are equally dumbfounded by her inability to simply enjoy her life. As the story develops, we see her growth not only through her eyes but also from the viewpoint of her hosts and new friends. This enriches our understanding of her self-discovery enormously.
Jane Wilson-Howarth’s understanding of Nepalese life is borne not only from her extended time living in the country but from her empathetic understanding of what ‘culture’ means and how it manifests itself both to those living in a place and to the bewildered outsiders who visit Nepal. Her great skill is to have taken a place she knows intimately and to have re-populated it with a cast of characters who leap from the pages into your memory. This book is far more than ‘travel literature’, it is a heartfelt examination of what it means to be an outsider – either as an individual or an entire nation.
An enthralling and absorbing read (it’s also a book begging to be filmed!)
Tim Hooper
Chasing the Tiger
This is another romping Himalayan adventure. This time the boys, and their long-suffering friend Bim, end up in the high Himalayas where they encounter a family of hungry bears and even a snow leopard and much more astonishing wildlife as they wander, lost, amongst the crags and deep into terrorist territory.
Himalayan Heist
This is an adventure story for adults and young adults. It is a breathlessly exciting page-turner, in the long tradition of quest stories.
The complex and shifting relationships of the three main protagonists – Alex and James, and their engaging girl companion Bim – are put to the test as they work their way through the beautiful and dangerous Nepalese landscape. They know what they have to do, but not what they will be required to face. Perils confront them at every turn, some natural, others man-made. The Nepalese landscape – presented in vivid and almost tactile clarity – can be beautiful, but also menacing.
In many adventure stories the characters are the main interest and the setting is little more than a lifeless backcloth; or the landscape is the writer’s real subject and the protagonists are anaemic stereotypes whose only purpose is to move the story forward. But here the characterisation is enmeshed within the action and the setting. Without noticing, readers find themselves caring about the characters, anxious when they are separated, comforted when they are reunited.
The author is a traveller. She writes about places and people she knows well, so there is an integrity in her writing and a total authenticity in the heft and feel of the story. So her accounts of the wildlife, the valleys and mountains and rivers, and the people the three main characters come across, have truth in them.
Victor Watson, editor of The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English