What this collection is not is just a paean to a lost homeland or the pain of exile. In stories both accomplished and inept, there is a nuanced look at what it means to be Tibetan, not just as a nationality, a political or religious identity, but as simply human.

In All of Us In Our Own Lives, Thapa hammers in the adage that the personal is political, especially in a country like Nepal where there is no circle around the individual.