A Golden Age
3 journalers for this copy...
The experiences of a woman drawn into the 1971 Bangladesh war for independence illuminate the conflict's wider resonances in Anam's impressive debut, the first installment in a proposed trilogy. Rehana Haque is a widow and university student in Dhaka with two children, 17-year-old daughter Maya and 19-year-old son Soheil. As she follows the daily patterns of domesticity—cooking, visiting the cemetery, marking religious holidays—she is only dimly aware of the growing political unrest until Pakistani tanks arrive and the fighting begins. Suddenly, Rehana's family is in peril and her children become involved in the rebellion. The elegantly understated restraint with which Anam recounts ensuing events gives credibility to Rehana's evolution from a devoted mother to a woman who allows her son's guerrilla comrades to bury guns in her backyard and who shelters a Bengali army major after he is wounded. The reader takes the emotional journey from atmospheric scenes of the marketplace to the mayhem of invasion, the ruin of the city, evidence of the rape and torture of Hindus and Bengali nationalists, and the stench and squalor of a refugee camp. Rehana's metamorphosis encapsulates her country's tragedy and makes for an immersive, wrenching narrative. (Publishers Weekly)
Journal Entry 2 by ApoloniaX at Contemporary Asian Literature, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Monday, November 16, 2009
Thanks so much, ApoloniaX! This will be a great book to read as part of the 6 continents, 6 countries, 6 books reading challenge.
This was a wonderful book. I'm very interested in accounts (true and fictional) of mothers trying to raise their children in difficult circumstances. Besides learning a lot from this book--I knew next to nothing about Bangladesh before reading it--I was captivated by this story of a war told from a mother's perspective.
j4shaw has chosen this book and one other of mine from the Contemporary Asian Literature Virtual Bookbox. I'll be sending them together after I've read the second book.
j4shaw has chosen this book and one other of mine from the Contemporary Asian Literature Virtual Bookbox. I'll be sending them together after I've read the second book.
Journal Entry 5 by jumpingin at North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, January 24, 2010
Released 14 yrs ago (1/24/2010 UTC) at North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent to j4shaw by surface mail. Travel safely!
Sent to j4shaw by surface mail. Travel safely!
I not only received this marvelous book as part of the Contemporary Asian Literature, Virtual Bookbox, but I have also read it and enjoyed it immensely!
I devoured this truly poignant book within a few days ( a rare thing for me these days). I found myself at times almost smelling the Indian spices as I shed a tear at numerous intervals!
I eagerly await Tahmima Anam's 2nd novel "The Good Muslim" to be released in 2011.
I devoured this truly poignant book within a few days ( a rare thing for me these days). I found myself at times almost smelling the Indian spices as I shed a tear at numerous intervals!
I eagerly await Tahmima Anam's 2nd novel "The Good Muslim" to be released in 2011.