A review by emreadsbooksagain
In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado

5.0

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado has written a hugely powerful story, her story. Her ability to capture the physicality of mountaineering is stunning and through it her voice guides your understanding of her life, trauma, troubles, sorrows, growth, sexuality, in a raw and honest way. The novel alternates between the Everest climb and her past. The past is tough to read but the construction of this is done beautifully and purposefully to show the why and the how of getting to Everest. I loved the reflection on how you transcend trauma and the push to live in the moment that Mother Everest shows Silvia, and us, "No future. No past. This moment. This ladder." Finishing this book left me feeling thankful, for being allowed to read this and share in her story.