India, March 14 -- The year is 1869. Tibet is closed to Europeans, an infuriating obstruction for the rapidly expanding British Empire. In response, Britain begins training Indians, who are permitted to cross borders that White men may not, to undertake illicit, dangerous surveying expeditions. Balram is one such surveyor-spy, a school teacher who, for several years, has worked for the British, often alongside his friend Gyan. Gyan went missing on his last expedition and is rumoured to be imprisoned in Tibet. Desperate to rescue his friend, Balram agrees to guide an English captain on a foolhardy mission. Disguised as a monk, the captain wants to chart a river that runs through southern Tibet. Their path will cross fatefully with that of another Westerner in disguise, 50-year-old Katherine. Denied a fellowship in the all-male Royal Geographical Society, she aims to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa. A novel about the ways humans try to leave a mark on the world, The Last of Earth confirms Deepa Anappara's talent for storytelling....