House of the Turquoise Roof

Mrs. Dorje Yuthok's frank and fascinating account of life in upper-class Lhasa before the Chinese occupation is also a quiet, dignified description of a noblewoman's status in the family and the community. She moved in the highest government circles-both her father and her husband were cabinet ministers, and her brother served as prime minister. Yet her outlook on life is grounded in the Buddhist practice she learned as a close disciple of well-known lamas and spiritual teachers.