The Ashram: “A 22-year-old village teacher vows to burn to death...voluntarily,” blared the radio. “Speaking from her husband's deathbed, she insists upon sitting atop a blazing pyre and with her deceased husband, wants to burn alive to join him in heaven.” Suspecting homicide and seeing a stunning parallel between this imminent death and the recent death of his own wife and infant daughter, Dr. Jonathan Kingsley -- once highly celebrated but now alcoholic and suicidal, is headed out to a Himalayan spiritual hermitage, seeking peace and closure. Instead, he rushes out to rescue the young woman. But when he arrives at the pyre, he soon realizes there is more to his journey. Unbeknownst to him, the woman's fate is intricately tied with his own spiritual salvation! A woman's emancipation from oppressive culture and fear of men; a man's overcoming of inability to cope with death and learning to love. An inspiring tale of two souls' journey halfway around the world toward spiritual enlightenment. The Ashram—filled with intrigue and edgy Himalayan adventures -- won a top prize in the Thirteenth Annual International Novel Contest sponsored by The Writer’s Digest in 2005, and was acquired for the movie rights in 2008.