11/29/2021
As an adult dealing with the trauma of childhood sexual abuse, Vasquez-Lavado looks to the mountains for healing in her triumphant debut memoir. She recounts a trek guiding a group of abuse survivors on a mountain-climbing expedition, finding catharsis together as they share their stories, and immediately afterward setting out to climb Everest. Interspersed with the account of her ascent, chapters cover growing up in an emotionally fraught family in Lima, Peru; being sexually abused for years by a family friend; coming to the U.S. for college; scaling the corporate ladder in Silicon Valley while secretly exploring San Francisco’s queer scene; struggling with alcohol abuse and heartbreak; and finally beginning to confront her buried traumas. Vasquez-Lavado recasts mountaineering, contrary to its macho reputation, as a feminist act: “Everest has many names, but they all mean mother. Sagarmatha—Mother of the Sky; Chomolungma—Mother of the World, stands witness where our own mothers could not.” She concludes, “We do not conquer Everest, just like we do not conquer trauma” but must yield to the “chasms” it opens to cross. Vasquez-Lavado’s story of struggle and survival is elevated by its faith in the power of women’s solidarity. Fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild should take note. Agent: Lara Love, Idea Architects. (Feb.)
"Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a warrior. Her incredibly warm voice reveals how she rose from the darkest moments of her life to become an inspiration and advocate for others. This book is a testament to the power of extraordinary vulnerability, empathy, and selflessness and a reaffirmation of the healing that comes from building a community. I'm in awe of her strength and courage that she has captured so beautifully in this memoir."
—Selena Gomez
“Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a woman possessed of uncommon strength, rare compassion, and a ferocious stubbornness to not allow the trauma of her childhood to destroy her life. In climbing the Seven Summits, she did nothing less than take back her own life—one brave step at a time. She will inspire untold numbers of souls with this story, for her victory is a win on behalf of all of us.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert
"Vasquez-Lavado understands that 'we do not conquer Everest, just like we do not conquer trauma. Instead, we must yield ourselves to the chasms and unexpected avalanches.' And herein lies the wisdom of this work, aptly subtitled 'A Memoir of Courage': In a world that demands us to harden, to tell stories of strength and triumph, the bravest act can be embracing our inner child, our fears, our truths."
— Qian Julie Wang, author of New York Times bestseller Beautiful Country, for The New York Times
"The first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits and the first Peruvian woman to summit Everest — Vasquez-Lavado’s memoir is many things. It is an adventure saga of her ascent of Everest; a vulnerable meditation on her childhood in Peru; and the tale of an immigrant’s journey to the United States. Above all, the book is Vasquez-Lavado’s reclamation of the truth behind the stories and secrets she had to learn to bear early."
―The New York Times
"The climax of the book — and Vasquez-Lavado's voyage up the mountain — brings a moment of resolve to all three battles at once in a tear-jerking, Hollywood ending."
— People
"The book’s chapters alternate between her enthralling life’s journey and a nail-biting Mount Everest ascent."
— The Washington Post's "10 noteworthy books for February"
"It's that drive to escape, to defy, that eventually pushes her up the macho corporate ladder at Silicon Valley start-ups, into alcoholism, and then across continents as a thrill-seeker breaking boundaries with her bare hands."
— Sierra
"This inspirational memoir about navigating trauma, healing relationships, finding community, and achieving self-acceptance delivers a raw and riveting reading experience."
—Booklist (Starred Review)
"'In the Shadow of the Mountain' has all the elements a great memoir requires — a strong voice, cinematic prose, a hero to root for — in essence, an extraordinary story about an extraordinary woman’s life."
— The San Francisco Chronicle
"Complex and compelling, Vasquez-Lavado’s quest to heal herself from the deep wounds of patriarchy is also a vibrantly feminist celebration of female resilience."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Unlike mountaineering memoirs that celebrate the ego of the individual climber, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s story is intimately collaborative."
— Catherine Hollis for BookPage
"Vasquez-Lavado details the child's perspective and the roots of her trauma with extraordinary clarity."
–CBC Sports Book Review
“This is a truly invigorating and compelling story of a heroic healing journey to base camp at Mt. Everest.”
—Ms. Magazine
“[Silvia’s] personal story of the palliative effects of mountain climbing, which helped her rise above abuse, addiction, and marginalization, is a must-read. . . . She has written an inspiring manifesto for the women’s empowerment movement worldwide.”
—Hap Klopp, CEO and founder of The North Face
"In Vasquez-Lavado’s debut memoir, the narrative of her life—from horrific sexual abuse to immigration and professional success in San Francisco—beautifully mirrors her arduous but rewarding trip up each mountain. It’s a testament to the power of high altitudes to help heal trauma, and a pretty great story to boot."
—BookPage
"Making history is nothing new for adventurous mountaineer, explorer, entrepreneur, author, and activist Silvia Vasquez-Lavado"
—Out Magazine
“Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s story gripped my heart. . . . What a beautiful and urgent offering.”
—V (formerly Eve Ensler)
★ 09/01/2022
Humanitarian and mountaineer Vasquez-Lavado's debut memoir centers on trauma and all the fallout that surrounds it. In this inspirational tale, Vasquez-Lavado tells the story of how mountaineering helped her process the traumatic events that shaped her life, including childhood sexual abuse, destructive alcohol use, and owning her identity as a queer woman. As they immerse themselves in Vasquez-Lavado's piercing narration, listeners will trek alongside the author as she navigates both her life and the peaks she climbs. Vasquez-Lavado's narration is serious and poetic, as she bravely shares details from her harrowing childhood. Above all, however, her message is that healing is possible. This book is described as a "memoir of courage," and courage is certainly an important part of Vasquez-Lavado's story. Even so, listeners may feel that the word "conquer" better captures her spirit, as she proves that she and others like her can conquer their fears, their trauma, and any mountain standing in their way. VERDICT This beautiful and important audio is highly recommended, particularly for listeners seeking stories of empowerment, resilience, and strength.—Anna Clark
09/01/2021
Journalist Cheung relates growing up in Hong Kong— The Impossible City—after its 1917 reunification with China, traversing its rich identities while exploring her education at various English-speaking international schools, the city's literary and indie music scenes, and the protests against restricted freedoms. One of America's top pianists, MacArthur fellow Denk recounts his upbringing and training, clarifying the complexities of the artistic life and the student-teacher relationship in Every Good Boy Does Fine. As Drayton relates in Black American Refugee, she left Trinidad and Tobago as a youngster to join her mother in the United States but was angered by the contrast in how white and Black people were treated and by age 20 returned to Tobago, where she could enjoy being Black without fear. What My Bones Know reveals Emmy Award-winning radio producer Foo's relentless panic attacks until she was finally diagnosed with Complex PTSD, a condition resulting from ongoing trauma—in her case the years she spent abused by her parents before they abandoned her. Growing up fourth-generation Japanese American in Los Angeles directly after World War II, Pulitzer finalist poet Hongo recounts spending his life hunting for The Perfect Sound, from his father's inspired record-player setup and the music his Black friends enjoyed to Bach, Coltrane, ukulele, and the best possible vacuum tubes. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize for criticism and a National Book Critics Circle Award for Negroland, Jefferson offers what she calls a temperamental autobiography with Constructing a Nervous System, woven of fragments like the sound of a 1950s jazz LP and a ballerina's movements spliced with those of an Olympic runner to explore the possibilities of the female body. In Home/Land, New Yorker staffer Mead captures the excitement, dread, and questions of identity that surfaced after she relocated from New York to her birth city, London, with her family in 2018. Vasquez-Lavado now lives In the Shadow of the Mountain, but once she was a Silicon Valley star wrestling with deep-seated personal problems (e.g., childhood abuse, having to deny her sexuality to her family) when she decided to turn around her life through mountain climbing; eventually, she took a team of young women survivors up Mount Everest (150,000-copy first printing).
2021-11-17
A Peruvian-born mountaineer and humanitarian tells the story of how mountain-climbing helped her and a group of young sexual abuse survivors process old traumas.
Vasquez-Lavado's childhood was a nightmare of dysfunction. Her mother suffered in willful silence whenever her husband beat her. In the meantime, the author quietly endured sexual abuse from the family’s male housecleaner. College in the U.S. brought awareness of both the fear that had ruled her life and reckoning with her own homosexuality. Only after she moved to San Francisco did Vasquez-Lavado begin to embrace her sexuality and the boozy, self-obliterating lifestyle of a hard-driving professional. A profound fear of intimacy led to a seemingly endless string of one-night-stands and, later, to the destruction of her one meaningful relationship. The author won her lover back only to have professional ambition and a newfound desire to climb the world’s mountains come between her and her partner, who eventually committed suicide. Her mother’s death from cancer and her own divorce drove her to summit Argentina’s Acongagua, “the tallest mountain in all of the Americas,” and made her realize that her true calling was to help sexual abuse survivors like herself. Vasquez-Lavado created a nonprofit for young female survivors of sexual abuse and took a group of girls to the Mount Everest base camp, hoping that climbing and sisterhood could help them overcome their demons. She then transformed her sometimes-harrowing journey to the summit into a personal symbol for conquering the fears and shadows that had ruled her life. Complex and compelling, Vasquez-Lavado’s quest to heal herself from the deep wounds of patriarchy is also a vibrantly feminist celebration of female resilience. “Reaching the top isn’t about the accomplishment,” she writes at the end. “It’s about walking in the shadows long enough to see the other side, about learning how to roll with other women and men, and how to lean on and support others instead of white-knuckling life alone.”
An emotionally raw and courageous memoir.
