Beyond the Sky and the Earth - by Jamie Zeppa (Paperback)

About the Book

Jamie Zeppa recounts her three years spent in the tiny Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, just south of Tibet, in this memoir that is part travel adventure, part Buddhist philosophy, and part "a testament of newfound faith" ("The New York Times Book Review").

Book Synopsis

Jamie Zeppa was 24 when she left a stagnant life at home and signed a contract to teach for two years in the Buddhist hermit kingdom of Bhutan. Much more than just a travel memoir, Beyond the Sky and the Earth is the story of her time in a Himalayan village, immersed in Bhutanese culture and the wonders of new and lasting love. Whether you're travelling to Bhutan, looking for the best travel writing around, or wishing to be transported to a culture, mindset, and spiritual ethos wonderfully different from your own, Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a joyous and lush memoir that will transform the way you think of faith, Western life, and love.

Review Quotes

"Reading the early pages of this rich, romantic, lushly descriptive memoir of Zeppa's three years in the tiny Buddhist kingdom just south of Tibet, I counted my cushy American blessings...But by the end, I not only got why Zeppa stayed in Bhutan... I actually envied her experience. Her tale is part love story, part history lesson and part Buddhism 101...Zeppa writes romantically without romanticizing, and her fascinating story is something you'll marvel at the first time and want to go back to again and again." --Mademoiselle

"Heartfelt...a good reminder that your passport, both literally and figuratively, can open up an entire world of possibilities." --Harper's Bazaar

"Zeppa's story sheds the customary contours of the year-abroad memoir and starts to become something more like a memoir of conversion, a testament of newfound faith." --The New York Times Book Review

"A joy to read." --Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Jamie Zeppa was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in 1964. She lives in Toronto and Bhutan. Her first novel Every Time We Say Goodbye, was published in 2011.