Many Victorian explorers set their gaze toward the Himalaya, and Ghandruk is the man who organises their expeditions. If his sahib chooses to follow bazaar gossip to a mysterious healer called Radha and then collapses in the thin air, that's no reason to turn back but a reason to carry the man where he's promised to take him.
Finding Radha turns out to be the easy part. Answering the questions she raises is more difficult, especially for a man like Ghandruk who once went on a pilgrimage he was unable to complete. Is she everything the bazaar gossip said she was? If she is, will she ever learn to see Ghandruk as more than yet another visitor asking for what only she can deliver?
Beneath the massive bulk of Annapurna, Ghandruk is only one of three people who need to decide who they are and who they want to be.