The Symmetries

The first part of the trilogy - The Symmetries - starts in Tibet in 1988. The author uses first-hand testimony as the basis to tell the tale of a young monk caught up in the celebrations of the Dalai Lama's birthday. The story moves across the years to 2030, London, where a young woman, Firenza, is trying to come to terms with her seemingly pointless job in an advertising agency. Taking a rushed holiday to Tibet, she learns rather too much about the unhappy existence of many people there, and is caught up in human rights intrigue, a flooded London, and an assassination.