Tibetan Prayer Flags by Diane Barker (Connections Book Publishing, £14.99)

DIANE Barker has travelled many a mile since her idyllic country childhood in the picturesque Worcestershire village of Alfrick.

The daughter of the licensees of the former Swan Inn may have grown up surrounded by the fields, hedgerows and lanes of her native county, but more exotic climes were to prove an irresistible lure.

After a number of years spent following her heart across several continents, she eventually alighted on Tibet, a land that can now truly be said to be her spiritual home.

The discovery of this country, whose mountain ranges straddle the roof of the world, was not only destined to give meaning to her own life, but was also to illuminate a relatively obscure corner of the planet.

This book package is the result. And what a first work this is for the photographer/artist/writer, who is rapidly being acknowledged as a leading expert in a highly specialist field.

Diane spends nearly half of each year documenting Tibetan communities both inside Tibet and in exile in Indian and Nepal. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and books and also featured in exhibitions, audio visual presentations and a National Curriculum education pack.

The flags that accompany the book are a feature of Tibetan life and have been flown for centuries. They adorn trees, span ravines and mountain passes - but are also suitable in a western setting.

In fact, Diane practises what she preaches, for her garden in Alfrick is festooned with flags, an oasis promoting Buddhist ideals of peace and compassion.

By hanging them in a place that is special, people can bring calm into their lives and spread messages of goodwill, health and, who knows, maybe even wealth, too.

But you don't necessarily have to be a believer. For the book itself, crafted in a sharply evocative prose style that oozes the romance and drama of those faraway hills, is sufficient in itself to fire the imagination of all but the most staid of souls.

Tibetan Prayer Flags is a worthy first effort from a child of rural Worcestershire who has grown up to be a woman of Tibet.

John Phillpott