I was initially very excited to read this but found it a bit difficult to focus on as a reader. That might have been more me than the book itself. I struggled to the end but cannot say it was a pleasant reading experience for me.

This novel starts in 1959 Tibet, where sisters Lhamo and Tenkyi, along with their parents and many community members, flee their home seeking safety from China’s invasion. The sisters eventually settle in Nepal after losing both of their parents during the harsh journey. Lhamo works hard and sacrifices for her younger sister, who gets a scholarship to attend school abroad. The narrative then switches to Lhamo’s daughter Dolma decades later as she goes to Toronto to study and live with her aunt Tenkyi. Dolma gradually learns secrets of her family’s painful past.

I adored this novel. While it started out slow, the pace did pick up and I got so attached to the characters, especially Lhamo. I learned A LOT about Tibet and Tibetan history without feeling like I was in a lecture. This is certainly an emotional reading experience and I highly recommend it to lovers of intergenerational historical fiction.

Unfortunately this wasn't for me. The title and premise intrigued me but when actually started reading I found it hard to keep up with the narrative and remain interested.

“He described the frost on the squat bushes of yellow and red flowers, and the golden light on the mountain at dawn as pilgrims began their prostrations, lying on the ground in supplication for their sins. He described how the pilgrims would stretch their arms forward, mark the earth with their fingers, stand up, walk to that mark, and lie down again. Four weeks, he said, they circled the mountain in this manner until they completed their symbolic act of death and rebirth.”

This book interested me because I know almost nothing about Tibet. It follows a family of Tibetans from the initial Chinese occupation of Tibet in the 1960s, through their flight to Nepal and the eventual resettlement of some members of the family in Toronto, Canada. The book has extensive descriptions of life as refugees struggling to survive, work and gain an education. There is a heavy overlay of religion and mysticism. The discovery of a Tibetan religious article in Canada leads to a discussion of the antiquities trade and the dispersion of items central to Tibetan culture.

I would probably have enjoyed this book more were it not for the disjointed chronology. Everyone’s story was told in small bites scattered throughout the book. The book felt very long. I also could have done without the soap-opera-level story of lost love. I did learn things from this book, but I wasn’t a huge fan of its structure.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This is a beautifully written multi-generational novel following members of a family in the 50 years starting with the Chinese invasion of Tibet. This isn't a topic I know much about so I was interested to read a novel touching upon this event and the issues arising form it. A touching novel that deals with some tough topics, but it is definitely pretty slow-moving.

Tsering Yangzom Lama's We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a multigenerational novel beginning shortly before the Chinese invasion of Tibet and continuing through to the present day. The generations included in the novel are those who were adults at the time of the invasion, their children, and the subsequent generation of children born in the refugee camps that Tibetans were forced to flee to.

At the center of the novel is a nameless clay saint figurine, rescued from a destroyed monastery. Unlike most such figures, this one is humble, unembellished, human and vulnerable in appearance. This nameless saint is reputed to disappear, then reappear in times of crisis when his presence is needed—times such as the invasion of Tibet and the years following that invasion. Readers see the nameless saint being used in healing rituals pre-invasion and in the refugee camps, and in Canada purchased as an addition to a wealthy orientalist's "Asian" collection. (The choice of "orientalist," rather than another term is deliberate here, intended to reflect both Western lumping together of the cultures within China and across the Asian continent and the view of the nameless saint as an artifact, rather than a living protector of a community that continues to exist after decades of cultural genocide.)

The aspiring scholar/daughter of a woman living in a refugee camp in Nepal who has immigrated to Canada and is pursuing graduate work in Tibetan Culture is shown the nameless saint at a party of mingled scholars, art patrons, and activists and recognizes it as the legendary figurine she grew up hearing about but had never seen. The novel's central characters include this woman—one of the generation born in refugee camps—her aunt, who has also immigrated to Canada; her mother, who continues to live in the camp in Nepal; and the grandmother she never knew who was a traditional healer.

Lama gives us a powerful narrative of the Tibetan diaspora, along with an exploration of the cultural changes that resulting from this diaspora. Is the nameless saint a god or is it merely an object? Where does it belong—carefully preserved in a museum or private collection or among the people who still see it as a living force with protective powers? We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies makes for powerful and enlightening reading, serving as both history (as experienced through fiction) and as an opening into a larger consideration of colonialism, conquest, and the deliberate erasure of cultures.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title; the opinions are my own.

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies was a novel that discusses a very painful moment in time for many. It covers a few very dark and heavy topics, featuring characters that experienced a sheer amount of loss but were so compelling. Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this novel in the second half due to the writing style. It felt choppy and didn’t flow well, and I thought the writing style didn’t mesh well with the emotional, sorrowful moments I previously discussed. Therefore these moments didn’t carry the weight that they should have. And in the end, the novel just didn’t hold my attention. But big thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

DNF @15%

This just didn't work for me. I was really excited to read a book about this time frame and about Tibet, but was totally disappointed by what I got. It was written in almost a juvenile way, was very tepid and the parts that should have been heart-wrenching, were just meh. I would pick this up and then find myself doing other things and not really moving forward with it. All of this, plus the knowledge that we were soon going to jump forward in time and place and have to adjust to that made me realize that this just wasn't for me. SO disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA/Bloomsbury Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deeply engaging and richly descriptive, this novel follows a Tibetan family from the Chinese invasion until the almost-present while largely focusing on Lhamo, a young girl who endures great hardship to resettle in a refugee camp in Nepal with her remaining family and community members. Given my sparse knowledge around this population, I reveled in the details around their cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. Tsering Yangzom Lama invites the reader to learn not just about the history, but to also consider the far-reaching effects of being a people in exile. The concept of home is disrupted as we are forced to consider what it means when you are prevented from returning there, or to even go there to begin with. The political ramifications have been considered in through other channels, and this novel provides the human aspect to it. For those who believe that Tibet is an issue of the past, this book will challenge that misconception.

4.4 stars

I am grateful to the publisher Bloomsbury USA for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.

This book was everything I was hoping it would be. Though I had been aware of the basics regarding the relationship between Tibet and China, I have never read anything that has really spoken about Tibetan culture from the point of view of Tibetans , or of how these events truly impacted their communities in the long term. This book provided all of those things.

This is a multigenerational story that follows multiple women from the same family who experienced the effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet to different degrees. We see how they are affected by their experiences, and how each of them responds. I really appreciated the emphasis that the author put on culture and religion . We see how connected the characters are to their identity as Tibetans, and how important this was for all their decisions. I also think that showing the complex relationships between the characters, both familial and romantic, was a very great way to discuss generational trauma , and how it manifested under different circumstances.

The story was very well written, and I think the perspective choices and the decision to move between different timelines, as well as utilizing stories told from memory really added to the atmosphere of the story, and made I felt immersed in the lives of these characters. This was an emotional story from beginning to end . The actual ending was tragic yet realistic. It really showed that as much distance (both in terms of time and physical distance) that exists between the events and current time, the effects of that trauma still echo. The only issue I had was that some of the actions in the present day timeline seemed muddled, and that there were too many reveals crowded into the last portion of the story to explain character motivations.

I'm happy to have read this story. I think it was an excellent historical fiction and I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction and cultural stories, and readers who enjoy Authors like Min Jin Lee and Julie Otsuka.

Beautifully written characters that come alive.Tibet has always interested me and this book drew me in to the country the people.This is a book that stays with me even I read the last words.#netgalley #bloomsbury

I was IMMEDIATELY interested in this one when I saw it touted as the perfect read for lovers of Homegoing & multi generational sagas. While I believe it's impossible to live up to Homegoing, I did enjoy this one and loved the focus on Tibetan culture.

This beautiful story flips between the lives of Lhamo & Tenkyi, two sisters living in a refugee camp in Nepal after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and then ultimately, Lhamo's daughter, Dolma, living in Canada and pursuing a degree in Tibetan studies.

Woven throughout this novel is incredible education about Tibetan culture (of which I knew embarassingly little). It explores the complexities of Tibetan identities, and the role of politics and religion on the characters worldviews. This is a character driven novel with a loose plot focused around a sacred object that reappears throughout Dolma & Lhamo's life. There's love, loss, struggle, triumph and heartbreak.

While this had all of the ingredients that I normally love, I did find it to drag a little in the middle, but the flipping narratives & time periods helped! That said, I enjoyed learning about a story from a part of the world I'm not familiar with, and I'd love to know if you plan to read this one!

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a story of two sisters who have to flee Tibet with their family from the Chinese invasion in 1950. The girls - Lhamo and Tenkyi - arrive at the refugee camp in Nepal together, but fate soon forces them apart. Many years later, Lhamo’s daughter, Dolma, is living with Tenkyi in Toronto, hoping to further her education. One day, her eye catches a mysterious statuette that was in all probability smuggled from Tibet. What is the statuette’s story, what connection does it have to Dolma and her family, and what happens when Dolma decides she must reclaim it?

I was so incredibly excited to read this book - I love family dramas and I was always fascinated by Tibet and its people and history. This novel is beautifully written and filled to the brim with information about Tibet, but manages to present it in a way that doesn’t feel like reading a non-fiction book. It’s very clear how important the culture and history are to the author, and she writes about them in such a captivating way that I found myself numerous times picking up my phone to go down a rabbit hole of searching for even more information. It’s a character driven story so the pace is quite slow and even though I found the premise interesting, it took me way longer than I expected to finish the book. It’s not a quick, thrilling read - it’s definitely more of a book that you savor and take your time with. The main characters are well fleshed-out and intriguing, although I do wish we learned more about Tenkyi. Overall, it was truly an impressive book that will stay with me for a long time.

TLDR: We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a brilliant but slow-moving novel that focuses on the issues of displacement, ancestry, and history. It’s an intimate glimpse into the lives of people so many of us know so little about.

A moodily atmospheric family epic of Tibetan exile. Lhamo and her younger sister Tenkyi trek across the Himalayas to Nepal with their mother, a visionary, and father after the Chinese invade Tibet. Unfortunately, their parents do not survive and they find themselves being cared for such as it is by an uncle until they are separated. Lhamo as the older is responsible for the house while Tenkyi studies- and she's able later to go to Delhi for university- while Lhamo is sent to tend to an aunt who has lost her own children. Lhamo is fascinated by Samphel but marries another man, who drinks and disappears. Her daughter Dolma makes it to university in Toronto, where Tenkyi has emigrated and it is there that she finds the ka which had been so important to their family for so long. This starts in 1959 and then moves back and forth between the 1960s and the relative present and between the characters. Know that at times it feels as though you've missed something and that it is not a breakneck read. That said, it's a fascinating look at Tibetan culture and beliefs with intriguing characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

One of the most beautiful books I've read in recent history, the story is as vast as it is intimate. A more detailed review will be forthcoming as soon as I wrap my thoughts around this book.

"We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies" is an eye-opening look at Tibet in the 1950s, and what happens after the Chinese invasion forces Tibetans to leave their home. Young Lhamo and her family are forced to flee to a refugee camp near Nepal, and the treacherous causes her to lose both of her parents. With her and her younger sister Tenkyi as the remainder of their family, they're forced to rely on the community around them to survive. Decades later, the two are separated across the ocean and wind up living very different lives - but a chance occurrence leads to their reunion and a chance at coming to terms with their past.

I appreciated how this novel highlighted such a painful point in history, and its lasting impact on the Tibetan people. There's an incredible amount of loss and tragedy that occurs even in just the first few chapters of this novel, and leads readers to develop awe and appreciation at Lhamo's and Tenkyi's will to survive - even at such a young age. The later parts of the novel give us a chance to see them as their older and more mature, and coming to terms to living in exile and dealing with the sheer amount of loss they've gone through. There's a number of heavy and weighty topics that are covered in this novel, and are handled with care and compassion by the author.

What I struggled with, however, was the writing style; passages didn't flow well, sentences felt too terse and clipped, and moments of great loss and sorrow didn't have the emotional weight that they could have. I struggled to get through this novel at times given how slow the pacing seemed at times, which I felt detracted from the overall story.

I loved this book! I've always wanted to know more about Tibet and the people of Tibet and this book was like getting the history of Tibet in a very personal way. The characters were so interesting and the writing was excellent. I hope many people will read this book because it is a story that needs to be told--again and again. Kudos to the author!!

This specific moment in history was a first for me to read about, and it didn't disappoint. Hauntingly beautiful and exquisitely executed, I will be thinking about this story for a long, long time.

This was a really gripping novel showcasing ones love for family and country. I love the writing style of this book and found it was beautiful and flowed well. One part of the book that really stood out to me as someone who is in anthropology in academia was the conversation between Dolma and the professors. It really highlighted how often times areas of study focus on romanticizing an area or focus on one specific time or region while largely ignoring the people’s experience in the area. It’s really made me put more thought into the type of research academics are doing and who is benefiting vs who is being harmed during that research. Overall this book was a really interesting read that highlighted family, country, culture, love and loss. I would definitely read it again.

My first book to read by this author but definitely not my last! Such a gripping novel that made it hard for me to put his book down once I started it. Highly recommend!!