The Green Eyed Lama

LOVE IN THE TIME OF STALIN'S PURGES....

Based on a true story.

The year is 1938. The newly-installed communist government of Mongolia, under orders from Moscow, has launched a nation-wide purge. Before it ends, nearly a tenth of the country's population will be murdered.A young nomadic herds-woman named Sendmaa falls in love with Baasan, a talented and handsome Buddhist lama. Baasan resolves to leave the priesthood and marry Sendmaa, but her scheming neighbor persuades Baasan's brother, Bold, to ask for Sendmaa's hand in marriage first. Their love triangle is engulfed by tragedy when Mongolia's Stalin moves to crush the Buddhist faith.

The list of the purged lamas at the end of the book, where a reader can find the names of the book characters, is taken from the secret service documents unclassified after 60 years.

Written originally in English, The Green-Eyed Lama was published in Mongolian in 2008, and has been a bestseller in Mongolia for 15 years. In November 2017, the French publishing house Grasset Editions published the novel in French under the title Le Moine Aux Yeux Verts.