iankingsley

A group of four friends – protagonist Emma, Leanne, Al and Daisy – have various reasons to go on holiday together. Leanne persuades them to go to Nepal and trek up into the Annapurna Range via Kathmandu, through Pokhara and on to a “retreat” run by young people who have dropped out of society. Ekanta Yatra, set in a remote, mountainous area offers seclusion, solitude, meditation, yoga, massage, sex... and lots of underhand goings-on that, time reveals, brands it as a dangerous cult.

The narrative jumps between present day Emma working in rural Wales, having changed her name for reasons you wait a long while to find out, and the reasons for that, stemming from her time in Ekanta Yatra.

I was initially a little confused between the four principal characters at times, but that might just be me! Tension is built with skill, and the varied characters all become a bit bitchy in their own ways. Clearly their friendships were on a knife-edge from the start, but as matters develop in the mountain retreat, no one can count on anyone for reliable support.

An interesting read.