Born and raised in the close-knit community of Bellingen, Rose always felt like she didn't belong — a sense that home might be somewhere else, even if she didn’t yet know where.
Rose came from a family that carried grief, silently. Her grief stricken mother lost not one but two of her children, suddenly, before Rose was even born. Back then, grief was not spoken about but of course deeply felt. The silence of grief left Rose Rose to fend for herself.
Even at the tender age of three, Rose remembers running away from home, seeking lands unknown, lands far far away from the place she called home. Yet, when the family home was sold, even as an adult, she felt desperately sad and lost.
Her brand new memoir traces a deeply personal and physical journey, one that took her far from the familiar farms of her childhood into the high-altitude of the Himalayas with cultural differences she wasn't prepared for, yet was what she needed, to live and learn from.
But this is not a story of a comfortable escape. It’s a story of grit, risk, and raw determination. Refusing to chase the kind of life that came easily, she made it her mission to walk — and climb — her way into truth.
Crossing from Nepal into remote regions of Tibet, she faced literal and emotional mountains to unearth a sense of belonging.
The Last Tibetan Kingdom is a book for readers of anyone who's ever asked: What if where I come from isn't where I’m meant to be?
Biography/Memoir, Travel, Nepal, Tibet, Buddhism, Family, Siblings, Home, Identity, Finding Yourself, Culture Shock, Nursing, Sense of Place
About The Author
Rose Lane is a Brisbane local. Her writing is inspired by the untold stories of people and places.
She has travelled to London and Nepal as a nurse and has written for multiple publications including The Guardian (Australia), The Big Issue and others, on topics ranging from anti-war activism to music and disability awareness.
Rose has also been the Community Correspondent for ABC Radio Brisbane. The Last Tibetan Kingdom is Rose’s first book and was selected for the 2017 Hardcopy Manuscript Development Program at the Australian Writers’ Centre in Canberra.
