''Buddha Da'' (2003) is a novel by Scottish author

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

. It was shortlisted for the 2003

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

, and the 2003

Whitbread Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for a first novel.

Plot summary

The book takes a mostly light-hearted look at what might happen when two vastly opposing worlds and ways of life come into contact with each other. Following a chance meeting with a Buddhist monk in a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

sandwich bar one lunchtime, painter and decorator Jimmy McKenna starts to develop an interest in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and begins to visit a

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

centre and go away for weekend retreats. The story is essentially about Jimmy's new-found faith, and the reaction of his immediate family to this. It is told from three points of view - those of Jimmy, his wife Liz, and their daughter Anne Marie - and follows the family as Jimmy's desire to lead a better and more meaningful life begins to have an effect on them all. To begin with, this proves to be to their detriment, as Liz and Anne Marie cannot understand why Jimmy - who has previously been an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

- would suddenly want to become a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. However, as the story unfolds, a series of events allow everyone to gain some insight into the choices Jimmy has made.

References

External links

Interview with Anne Donovan
2003 British novels Scottish novels Novels set in Glasgow Canongate Books books 2003 in Scotland Scots-language literature {{Buddhism-stub