A Journey with Elsa Cloud

Ravishing . . . No traveler, armchair or otherwise, should be deprived of this book's ripe pleasures."--Publishers Weekly

"In prose as heady as an old Delhi spice market, Leila Hadley invites us along on . . . a mother's journey in search of her daughter, and herself."--The Washington Post Book World

In a memoir that Norman Mailer called "the best travel book I've ever read," Leila Hadley records a journey to India inspired both by her lifelong love of travel and by a desire to reconcile with her estranged daughter Veronica, who was living in India and studying Buddhism. The book's title comes from Veronica's remark as a young girl that she wanted to be "the sea, the jungle, or else a cloud," thereby earning her the homonymic endearment of Elsa Cloud. A Journey with Elsa Cloud describes the sensuous delights of India; explains sexual mores and myths of India; and speaks tellingly about a memorable cast of characters, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A Journey with Elsa Cloud is the record of a journey, a love story, and a beautiful work of art.