Micro Review: Telling Me My Stories by Kunzang Choden

Name of the book: Telling Me My Stories, author of the book: Kunzang Choden, Published on: 5 August 2025, Published by: Bloomsbury IndiaKunzang Choden, the first Bhutanese woman to be published in English, has long been celebrated for her role in preserving and reflecting on Bhutan’s cultural identity. Known for her acclaimed novel The Circle of Karma, as well as her collections of folktales, children’s books, and studies on food and tradition, Choden’s body of work serves as a bridge between Bhutan’s past and its rapidly changing present. A recipient of the 2023 SAARC Literature Award, she continues to be a vital voice in South Asian literature.Telling Me My Stories is a quietly powerful memoir that unfolds through memories, observations, and reflections. Choden recounts her childhood in a privileged landed household in Bhutan, the loss of her parents, and her early schooling in India, where she was surrounded by strangers and an unfamiliar language. The young Kunzang, isolated in a boarding school in Kalimpong, found comfort in whispering to herself the English words she had heard during the day and the stories she carried from home.Now living once again in her ancestral home, Ogyen Choling, transformed into a museum—Choden reflects on how Bhutan has evolved over the decades. Through personal vignettes, she offers a rare, first-hand account of the major social and cultural shifts that took place in the mid-20th century, capturing the fading rituals, beliefs, and class structures of a Bhutan that no longer exists.Both a memoir and a historical document, Telling Me My Stories is written in a tone that is warm, honest, and intimate. It is an invaluable account of personal resilience and cultural transformation, and a deeply human reminder of how memory preserves what history might otherwise forget.