The Virgin Goddess (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781479364909)

This love story is also a meticulously researched tale of a girl who was selected as the Royal Kumari of Kathmandu, Nepal at the age of four. A Kumari is a girl who is worshipped as a Living Goddess. And when Archita Shakya is selected as the Royal Kumari of Kathmandu, she experiences what it is like to be worshipped as the Living Goddess. The novel is based upon a clear-eyed understanding of the deep spiritual knowledge that nourishes this cultural practice.

When Archita is deposed, she returns to her family as an ordinary girl - which is difficult for her and her family, to say the least! She acquires an education that is cut short during the pro-democracy struggles of 1989 - 1990. On discovering a plot to murder her after her wedding, she escapes from Kathmandu by assuming a false identity. In England, she loses her original identity as completely as she lost her first love...or so she thinks. However, life has a few surprises in store....

This perceptive and witty novel is not only a warm, generous and satisfying romantic story, it is also a powerful meditation on society, culture and identity.