What Happened to Tibetan Singer Soname Yangchen

Three years ago The Observer revealed Soname Yangchen's journey from child slave in Tibet to star performer at the Royal Opera House. Soname escaped in 1989 and trekked for six weeks across the Himalayas to Nepal. She became pregnant by a man who left her and had to give up her daughter. She married a Briton, moved to Brighton and began a career as a writer and singer of Tibetan songs. In 2003 she performed at Covent Garden to raise cash for the Tibet Relief Fund.

Soname says the Observer article led to a meeting with a literary agent who persuaded her to write her autobiography, Child of Tibet, now published by Portrait Books. It begins with her birth in a cowshed - she thinks in 1973 - and brings the story up to date with her flourishing singing career. The book is dedicated to her daughter, Deckyi, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan people.

Earlier this year Soname released a CD, Unforgettable Land. Nigel Williamson, a Times critic, wrote: 'It is impossible not to be moved by the voice and songs of Soname Yangchen.' She is in contact with her daughter, who grew up in India. She and her husband separated last year, and she moved in with a friend in London. She writes in Child of Tibet: 'I am leading a gypsy life once more.'