Evelyn in Transit: A Novel

A contemporary novel by David Guterson that follows Evelyn Bednarz, a young woman who leaves conventional life behind to travel across the American West, taking odd jobs and exploring her own values. Parallel to her story is Tsering, a boy raised as a Buddhist monk in Tibet who eventually becomes a high lama. Their lives intersect when Buddhist lamas reveal that Evelyn’s five-year-old son, Cliff, is the reincarnation of a recently deceased lama, setting off personal, familial, and public challenges. The novel explores themes of identity, spirituality, cultural encounters, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.