In the Circle of the Dance

Before I travel I always look for a book to describe the country. I don't like the usual travelogue that might just describe the monuments or temples. I look for one which describes the every day lives of the people there. And so I ordered this book.... wow. It is a description of rural life in a village in the terai of Nepal, the lowlands near the border with India. The author spent time with the local women while her spouse did his field work for an anthropology PhD. The writing goes between descriptions of rural life and includes some passages detailing what was going through her mind at the time in terms of how her own cultural background influenced her realtionships in the host culture. The perspective which she brought was amazing to me - a very mature and thoughful outlook indeed! After my own trip to Nepal I will know more about whether to recommend this I suppose - but in the meantime, I enjoyed reading it, it was wonderfully done, and it stands by itself very well as an example of wonderful travel writing esp if you are interested in the daily life of people from a very differetn culture than our own... Joe Niemczura Honolulu Hawaii

This book depicts the adventures of a young American woman staying in a Tharu village in Nepal. While her husband was there as an Anthropologist, she was there as a visitor. The author tries to adapt to everyday life in the village, and in doing so gives us a unique insight into what it is like to be a young Tharu woman--as the author, herself, goes through a period of discovery about what it means to be a woman.