Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet

Shu Wen & her husband had been married for only a few months in the 1950s when he joined the Chinese army and was sent to Tibet for the purpose of unification of the two countries. Shortly after he left she was notified that he had been killed, although no details were given. 

Determined to find the truth, Shu Wen joined a militia unit going to the Tibetan north, where she soon was separated from the regiment. Without supplies & knowledge of the language, she wandered, trying to find her way until, on the brink of death, she was rescued by a family of nomads under whose protection she moved from place to place with the seasons & eventually came to discover the details of her husband’s death.

In the haunting Sky Burial, Xinran has recreated Shu Wen’s journey, writing beautifully & simply of the silence & the emptiness in which Shu Wen was enveloped. The book is an extraordinary portrait of a woman & a land, each at the mercy of fate & politics. It is an unforgettable, ultimately uplifting tale of love loss, loyalty, & survival.