During a treacherous winter trek to the basecamp of Annapurna, one woman is forced to confront the events leading up to her best friend’s tragic death twenty years earlier as well as the nature of their friendship, the meaning of love, and the unexpected consequences of what is spoken—and what is not.

When Livy receives a package containing the ashes of her best friend, she knows she must return to the place Mo loved best to honor her memory. Leaving her son and her estranged husband behind, Livy travels to Kathmandu and the mountain towns of Nepal, and to the past, along with the three other original members of the trek.

As they navigate the trail during harsh winter conditions, Livy is forced to confront painful memories and the revelation of long-buried secrets, putting her life—and her whole concept of self—on the line. She must finally face the mystery that’s haunted her all these years: the circumstances surrounding her best friend’s death.

Following Livy as she struggles to find a path to safety and self-knowledge through dangerously high altitudes and deadly avalanches, frostbite, and injuries, Annapurna explores the meaning of love, the nature of memories, and the often-entangled roles of a parent, spouse, lover, and friend.

Annapurna is a novel for anyone who has ever ventured from home hoping to find answers or to make peace with the past. Ultimately, it is a story about how far we sometimes need to go in order to discover where we belong.

Meg Serino earned a Certificate of Creative Writing from Stanford University and an MFA from Bennington College. A novel excerpt, Denial, was published in Narrative magazine and she was a Top 25 finalist for her short story “Thumb into My Palm” in Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers. She was born in New York City and currently resides in Westport, Connecticut.