Evelyn, a girl who is bigger and taller than most girls her age, never has fit in, and always had a rough time as a kid. As an adult she spent years being nomadic and taking random jobs and roles as they became available to her. A very different child, in the distant mountains of Nepal, grew up knowing exactly what his role is, having been born the next Norbu Rinpoche. When his path crosses with Evelyn's the result leads to a choice Evelyn's family has a hard time accepting, let alone understanding.
This is a nice, short novel that brings up questions about belief, and the role of religion and faith in a person's life, and how people find meaning or peace, or whatever they feel they need to find in their lives.

"Evelyn in Transit" by David Guterson is a novel that is interesting in both form and content. It follows two parallel stories that touch thematically but don’t interweave in exactly the way most readers have come to expect. Evelyn Bednarz grows up in Illinois and goes to a school where the teachers are nuns. Tsering grows up in rural Tibet. He lives first with his family, and then with his uncle Samten until he is recognized as the reincarnation of Norbu Rinpoche and taken to a monastery for training. Both children question who they are and how they fit in. They are both curious and questioning, paying attention to their experiences and perceptions. Their experiences raise the questions of identity and belief that are central to the theme of the novel as well as to the unfolding narrative.

Evelyn is not a Buddhist, but her questions reflect concepts in Buddhist thought. Tsering doesn’t know if he believes in reincarnation or if he is indeed the reincarnation of Norbu Rimpoche, and so he often asks about these things. As David Guterson takes his reader back and forth between these two disparate lives, he raises questions about our human situation, our beliefs, and the choices we make.

The story itself twists and turns. Choices are made and fates altered. What remains central throughout are the observations being made and the questions being asked. Both protagonists choose to sit slightly apart and witness their own lives and the lives of others. Based on their observations, they make choices that reverberate far beyond their individual lives.

This is an excellent book for people who enjoy offbeat characters who ask profound questions. This is a book where the profound is discovered in the mundane and the mundane has profound implications. It has humor, and interesting characters, and the twists and turns of story, while hovering below the surface is an invitation to ponder the beliefs that shape our lives.

In addition, the Epilogue tells us that the author met both Evely Bednarz and her son Cliff and that pieces of this novel are based on real characters and actual choices made. While there is an air of unreality to some of the scenes in this novel, it purports to be grounded in the real and therefore invites us to look once again at our expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for access to this ARC.

Evelyn in Transit by David Guterson is the biographical examination of someone who does not fit in and always feels on the outside. The story begins when Evelyn is a young girl and finally resolves in the most astonishing and unexpected way. Through it all Evelyn never gives up until she finally finds the place where she fits in and stays.
Recommended for readers who feel uncomfortable in their lives and are seeking.

David Guterson’s Evelyn in Transit is a novel that asks big questions through lived, messy lives. It is at once grounded in the ordinary and haunted by the extraordinary. The story follows Evelyn Bednarz, a restless and fiercely individualistic young woman, and Tsering Lekpa (also called Cliff), a child identified as a reincarnation of a high Tibetan lama.

Their lives intersect in unexpected ways, raising difficult questions about belief, faith, identity, and what it means to live “the right way.” Evelyn Bednartz herself is a misfit from Illinois, wandering through a myriad of jobs and circumstances, all in search of something authentic. She herself also raises a few questions—is a virgin birth possible? etc.

Tsering Lekpa/Cliff is an extraordinary child: precocious, kind of an anomaly because of his spiritual status. When Buddhist lamas claim that Cliff is the reincarnation of Norbu Rinpoche, a high lama, it changes his life—and that of many others. He himself, for example, is given opportunities he could never have fathomed from his life as a child living off butter and frozen yak meat.

The two tracks—Evelyn's wandering, her life on the margins of conventional belief—and Cliff’s glorious new life. Both tie to a powerful religious identity—are interwoven in a way that explores how different worldviews overlap, conflict, and sometimes mirror each other. Guterson’s strength here is how he juxtaposes spiritual belief systems without privileging one over the other, and examines both the comfort and the complications of belief.

Stylistically, the novel is spare, precise, and often beautiful in its simplicity. There’s a looseness to the structure—episodes in Evelyn’s life that accumulate rather than build in a conventional linear arc—but that looseness is part of the power. The small moments become luminous. The humor is dry at times, the observation sharp; nevertheless, the emotional stakes are deeply felt.

However, because of the episodic nature of Evelyn’s wanderings and the way the novel sometimes lingers on small scene after small scene, some readers might feel there is less momentum than expected. If you prefer tightly plotted narratives with strong forward propulsion, you may find it a little meandering. And if you like novels that take a firm stance or resolve spiritual issues, this one remains somewhat ambivalent. I assume that's intentional, but it still might frustrate readers who want more certainty. The novel is also a bit complex in that it involves Tibetan Buddhism, reincarnation, media scrutiny, and cross-cultural clashes. Some may also feel Guterson’s portrayal of religious tradition or spiritual authority could be more deeply rooted or nuanced, especially given the stakes.

Overall, however, in my eyes, Guterson treats everything he handles with respect and curiosity. Evelyn in Transit is a rich, contemplative novel. It’s ideal for readers who appreciate literary fiction with philosophical undercurrents. If you enjoy novels that linger in the interstices — between dogma and doubt, between homeland and wandering, between spiritual privilege and human fallibility — you’ll find much to savor here. And for all its spiritual and metaphysical questions, the book remains deeply human: awkward, messy, full of longing, hope, and sometimes humor. Guterson reminds us that even when traditions and beliefs seem irreconcilable, the human heart often walks the boundary.