A Golden Age

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Anam, choosing the zoomed in scenery of an upper middle class family, brilliantly connected the conflict and struggle at familial level to the much bigger story of revolution. Right after the partition in 1947, when East Pakistan and west Pakistan was born, there was too much contrast between two parts of Pakistan in all shape and form, which gradually formed into a very chaotic political situation followed by unequal distribution of resources . Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, 'A Golden Age' is a story of passion and revolution, of hope, faith, and unexpected heroism. The novel is well written and easy to read; the main strength is the family drama and there is a good bit of tension as well. About the birth of India, it also covers the separation of Pakistan and Bangladesh but in a much more vivid, interesting way.

Ca poveste, romanul este frumos, vocea Rehanei te atrage intr-o istorisire simpla, o descriere usor naiva a unor evenimente dramatice (cand profesori si intelectuali erau executati la Universitate, personajele noastre mananca byiriani si o casatoresc pe Sylvie).Ultimately, even in the darkness of war there is light, as 'in the midst of all this madness,' Rehana realises, 'I found the world seemed right for the first time in a very long time'. As a young widow she fights to regain custody of her children after losing them to her late husband's brother and wife. The Major: Guerrilla commander, injured in secret operation and brought to Rehana's house to be nursed back to health by Rehana and then becomes Rehana's love interest. For Rehana Haque, a young Urdu-speaking widow born in the western 'horn' but living in 1971 in the Bengali East, the chasm dividing Pakistan has long been metaphorical as well as geographic.

It pursued the systematic elimination of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel. It also made me more interested in the history of the region, so perhaps there is some compelling non-fiction I could parse through. She had married a man she had not expected to love; loved a man she had not expected to lose; lived a life of moderation, a life of few surprises. Rehana's devastation and her obsession with regaining her children is the defining event of her life and shapes many of her later choices. This is a debut novel set against the Bangladesh War of Independence; it’s not a historical novel, but the story is told through the medium of one family and those in their immediate circle.West enjoyed political and economic supremacy; East was a poor relation, neglected even during the cyclones and floods that plagued its delta planes. Her life centres around her household, and that remains true even when revolution breaks out and she finds herself sheltering freedom fighters.

When her children were small and she first became a widow, Rehana lost custody of them and went to great lengths to get them back. Divided Pakistan is not just the background against which the stories of the individual characters are told but the struggle for independence is told through the characters themselves, some from the west, and all vividly drawn. Sadly, I don’t know enough about the historical events to comment on the historical accuracy, but Anam tells an engaging story.We then went on to Kathmandu, where we came upon a human chain dredging a river looking for bodies, after a busy but rickety wooden bridge collapsed. Women and War: Negotiating the Interstital Spaces Between Gender and Nation in Tahmima Anam's "A Golden Age". I love reading about food, and this novel was very satisfying on that score, with every meal at least briefly described.

It is undeniably an important story, sensitively told, which filled me in on a time and place that I was distinctly hazy about.The first third was a bit slow and harder to get through, with the confusing characters and historical situation. That worked fine for me, although other readers in our group were frustrated by the withholding of information. The civil conflict is the backdrop to the story of Rehana as she tries to do the best for her family, and to keep her children safe, while acknowledging that her freedom fighter son Sohail and idealistic daughter Maya, young adults now, are determined to live by their own principles, no matter what the cost. This is an effective way to communicate the urgent story of the conflict, and I was engaged with Rehana's feelings and relationships. Whilst there is warmth and empathy for those struggling for independence, the characterisation is very polarised and the Pakistan based characters tend to be generally evil.