Alex, an American college student, spends a year abroad in Nepal, becoming involved with a young Nepali woman desperate to flee her village and an older American living in Nepal. A bizarre love triangle forms, and helping Maya has unforeseen implications. Over the next years Alex moves between Kathmandu, New York, and the red light district of Bombay, facing grim truths in this deftly told coming of age tale. Beal's exhaustive knowledge of Nepal and human complexity shines through. A triumphant first novel.  (NPL60, $13.95)