Despite the similarities between author Elsie Sze Sim-yee and the protagonist in her new novel, the former librarian shies away when asked if the character is her alter ego.
'No, it's not autobiographical,' she laughs.
Instead, Hong Kong-born Sze, who moved to Toronto in 1968, says she got inspiration for her novel The Heart of the Buddha - about a Hong Kong-born Chinese-Canadian librarian's search for her twin sister in Bhutan - from a trip to the kingdom with her husband in 2001.
'I was smitten by Bhutan's scenery and cultural heritage,' she says. 'I told myself that I must base my second novel around Bhutan.'
It may have been aiming high at the time, when Sze was a fresh retiree who had just started to dabble in writing and was still planning her first novel. But she's always been one to plan ahead. Sze, who says writing was her first passion, began taking writing courses at Toronto's Humber College while planning her early retirement in 2000.
'I knew that if I didn't take an early retirement I would never be able to write,' she says.