If you haven’t yet read The Magician of Lhasa, or if it’s been a while since you did, you’ll find the following summary helpful. And just so you know, it contains no spoilers!

Warm wishes,

David

The Magician of Lhasa: Summary

Tibet. March 1959. Novice monk Tenzin Dorje is summoned by his teacher, Lama Tsering, and told that the long-feared Red Army invasion of Lhasa has begun. Monasteries are being ransacked and monks brutally killed. Tenzin and his brother and fellow novice, Paldon Wangpo, have just minutes to decide if they wish to go home to their parents, or join their elderly teacher on a perilous journey through the mountains—and to freedom in India.

The fleeing monks are poorly clothed, dependent on villagers for food, and must walk at night to avoid Red Army soldiers. Things go from bad to worse—at one point they are only moments from capture. Lama Tsering leads his novices to a cave, one used as a place of retreat by the 8th century master Padmasambhava, famous for his prophecies. Here he reveals that their special purpose is to carry a precious scroll, or terma (meaning treasure), to freedom. The scroll, sealed in a metal tube for over 1,200 years, may be opened only under auspicious circumstances by the right person. Motivated by the importance of their mission, the novice monks are devastated when, soon after leaving the cave, Lama Tsering is trapped beneath a snow avalanche and can’t move. Further disaster strikes the escaping monks, who face overwhelming odds if they are to complete their mission.

•••

The focus of the present-day story, running in parallel, is Matt Lester, a brilliant, good-looking, thirty-something scientist with a vivacious girlfriend, Isabella. He faces a dilemma. His boss at the Imperial Science Institute in London, the insightful but chaotic Harry Saddler, tells him that his brainchild Nanobot research program, a potential game-changer for cancer treatment, has been snapped up by U.S. biotech investor Bill Blakely. Blakely loves Nanobot, plans massive investment to accelerate it, and wants Matt to lead the program. But Matt will have to relocate to Los Angeles. Will Isabella be willing to leave her senior marketing job and London behind—especially with her dad having just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s?