Sandra Groom

The Goddess of Kathmandu Sandra Groom

Nepal. A country of mountains and monasteries, gurus and goddesses.




Kathmandu. The ancient capital, where the fabric separating truth from legend is so thin it sometimes tears.




Lara Gordon is a corporate high-flyer whose carefully constructed world falls apart when she finds herself fifty, unemployed, and unexpectedly single. Deciding to take a three month break to 'relaunch herself into a fabulous middle-age', Lara travels to Kathmandu where she enrols in a Nepali language course, attends a meditation retreat at a Buddhist Monastery, and treks in the Himalayan mountains. Will Lara be able to put past disappointments behind her and build a meaningful future?




The Kumari is a young Nepali girl, separated from her family to live a cloistered life in a temple in Kathmandu's Durbar Square. At the age of eleven her world is turned upside down when she is stripped of her goddess status and returns to live with a family she barely knows.




Who is the mysterious Goddess of Kathmandu, and what can she teach Lara about coming to terms with getting older? Because here in Nepal, everything is true but not everything happened...