Book Review: She’s struggling with addiction and battling many demons

Her strategy for overcoming this was more extreme than most - she decided to climb Mount Everest.

In the Shadow of the Mountain follows dual timelines - one as Vasquez-Lavado climbs to base camp with a group of young women who have experienced sexual abuse and trafficking, then joins the group of climbers with which she will make her Everest summit attempt. The second timeline goes back to follow her experiences in childhood and young adulthood - the road that brought her to the tallest point on the planet. It’s not an easy read in parts - the childhood sections, in particular, are often heartbreaking. But we build a vivid understanding of what drives this extraordinary woman.

The most remarkable thing about this book is not Vasquez-Lavado’s achievements - spectacularly impressive though they are - but the humility, humour and honesty with which she describes them. This is no romanticised tale of conquering a great summit - she doesn’t shy away from describing the challenges, sometimes huge, sometimes mundane, of being a real woman of flesh and blood in these conditions. It’s an approach that may make her adventures seem less lofty, but certainly no less impressive.

As she says herself, ‘strength doesn't have to be loud or domineering. It can be tender and nurturing. It can be an undercurrent. A mountain.’ There’s no denying the strength it takes to pursue her goal - but it’s a down-to-earth, practical, strength. We’re party to everything from painstaking preparations involving her beloved spreadsheets, to what happens when you get your period halfway up the highest mountain in the world. And Everest, it turns out, is a great leveller - the most confident, most seemingly impressive climbers are not always the ones who fare the best. An evocative and thought-provoking story of the redemptive power of mountains, surrendering to what we cannot control - and Excel spreadsheets.