The blurb asserting this book to be "a real weepy" worried me but there was nothing else to read as I waited for my lunch in the pub. Once started I was engrossed by this story about the allure of mountaineering interwoven with elements of romance. The burden of parental expectation is another significant theme. Complex characters interact credibly and the author captures the combination of fear and compulsion that is at the heart of climbing. The book is rather dislocated across either side of the end of the Everest expedition; I imagine this to be because of a romantic drive towards an upbeat ending. ( )