A Golden Age: A Novel

A Golden Age came with many "firsts" for me: First novel by a Bangladeshi author, first novel set in Dhaka, first novel set against the backdrop of the war of independence in Bangladesh. I just finished reading and already ordered Anam's second novel, A Good Muslim. What did I like so much?First, the story immediately drew me in and then didn't let go. Anam opens her novel with "Dear Husband, I lost our children today" Maybe it's just me but I had to find out what happened and why. Anam draws her characters carefully and we get to understand each one gradually and more and more in the course of the story. She has the ability to create a multitude of pictures before your eyes for each scene, of each character, the surrounding, how each of them felt, what drives their actions. Even when Rehana (the main character) just washes clothes, these pictures help you see each movement as part of a larger puzzle that comes together to a spell binding story line.Second, I learned so much from this novel: about the history of Bangladesh, the relationships between Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, the daily lives, thoughts and hopes of people living in those places at that time. Although the author does not set out to teach but to tell a story, learning to love her characters also means learning to understand something about their home and hearts.Is there anything I did not like about the book? No, not really. A small improvement would have been adding a glossary of Bangla terms used in the book. There are not many and the meaning is clear without them, but I would have liked to understand everything. That's not worth taking off a star though.Who would I recommend the book to: Of course anybody interested in Bangladesh or South Asia in general, but more importantly anybody interested in a good story about family, a mother fighting for her children, the fate of friends torn apart in war, love and life... Although the historic events and location are specific, the story and people are deeply human - and therefore open themselves easily to all of us.Rehana, Sohail, Maya - I already miss you. And, yes, I can't wait to read more about your story in Anam's second novel.

Born in Bangladesh in 1975, the author, Tahmima Anam, grew up mostly in the West. It is through family stories of her native land, and stories about the Bangladesh independence war, that her debut novel: A Golden Age has come about.The story begins with Rehana Haque, a young mother who is forced by the courts to allow her brother-in-law to take her children after the untimely death of her husband.The plot then shifts and we meet her several years later. She has been re-united with her children, remains faithful to the memory of her late husband and she has established a life for herself in East Pakistan. After she gets her children back, she vows never to lose them again. However, her children are almost grown now, and they are beginning to make decisions for themselves. As the Bangladesh War of Independence rears its ugly head Rehana and her children are forced to take stock of their lives and decide how they want to live and act. Rehana sees that she cannot insulate her family from the war's impact, as her children become involved in the rebellion.The audio book is excellent. Madhur Jaffrey narrates this story beautifully, drawing readers into Rehana's life and the complexities of the war. The characters are memorable as the reader uses subtle shifts in tone and accent. The only complaint that I had was that there were a lot of foreign words peppered throughout this book that made parts of the story a bit difficult to follow. I also obtained the print version of the book from the library, but even that version did not contain a glossary of these words :(

Quite a story. A woman's perspective on war, and the brutal war for Bangladesh's independence, at that. So many contrasts with peacetime, so many simple plot lines capturing the complexity, so many moments distilling the various collisions within the human drama. All wrapped up in the final sentence, but neither neatly nor accurately. Rather, a somewhat purposeful blindness, like the way we all close our eyes to some realities, in order to get on with life and love and hope.I loved the characters. They were well drawn, especially for a first novel, but mainly the truth of them showed better in peace than in war. Some nice symbolism, far enough from the surface that it was not obvious, and the more effective for it. The finest scene, I thought, was in the refugee camp across the border. Very moving, not for its pity but for its ability to get below the surface.The thing I liked the least was the one-sided portrayal of the West Pakistan occupiers. Perhaps accurate - certainly there were enough atrocities to make it legitimate. Although they do have their moments of human warmth and yielding, one suspects that there was more humanity to them than this story allows to be seen. They are shown, essentially, as all Gestapo.But never mind. The fight to be free of the gestapos goes on, in many ways, in many lands, for many causes. Freedom is always advanced by the kind of honesty about life which is found in books like this.

Bangladesh is a country I know very little about, particularly their war of independance, I must say this is a very interesting read about a family before, during and right up to the day of their independance. Surviving this war and its impact on their lives is well written, non-political, just telling a story from their point of view and how to survive in difficult circumstances.

This book is magnificent in its orginality, composition, descriptive prose and suspense filled narrative. I particularly enjoyed this book as a British Bangladeshi who had heard about the historical details of the Bangladesh war for independence but never read a book about it. It gave me a great insight into the machinations of the combatants and non combatants of soon to be called Bangladesh. I enjoyed the Bengali language terms of various everday items and concepts featured in the novel. It had great male and female characters. This book is a must for all Bangladeshi descended people but will appeal to Non Bangladeshis as well in its straight forward and concise English language. I had a great time reading this book. It is a masterpiece. It deservedly won the Commonwealth Writers' prize. Subaccha, Tahmima Anam.

Interesting and well written.

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An unusual story set up in interesting and little told times. In the tradition of subcontinent family stories, very enjoyable read

While I was looking for non-fiction novels about the history of Bangladesh, I came across this. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but, nonetheless, I enjoyed it just as much. A Golden Age tells the story of the Haque family’s experiences during the war from the perspective of Rehana. A Golden Age begins with a newly widowed Rehana who had been declared unfit by a judge and has had her children taken away. By the second chapter, 20 or s0 years have passed. It's now 1971 and her children have returned, but the shame of what she had to do stays with her all these years. The novel follows Rehana's life during Bangladesh's war for independence. As her children become politically involved, Rehana finds herself drawn into the war as well. While her children are motivated politically, Rehana's desire for her children's safety drives her through the entire novel.Through A Golden Age, Rehana is more of a witness than an active member, like her children. We never witness the full atrocities that the people suffered but we do encounter the result of them through her eyes as we follow her from her home to refugee camps. And not knowing fully what the Pakistan army was doing, we're thrown into the same tense situation is Rehana in. We learn the real costs of war through the lives of this semi-real family. (I believe Rehana was based on Anam's grandmother and her experiences) I loved the way she described Bangladesh, the culture, the food, the landscape. My favourite part was beginning of the novel and how Anam introduced the land and country. It was, at most times, so calming and beautiful before everything goes terribly wrong.No one should really think of this as an actual account of what happened but an introduction that can incite further research. A Golden Age is more personal and human, and I felt plenty of emotion while reading Rehana's story. A Golden Age was a good introduction to Bangladesh's fight for independence, especially for me who grew up knowing barely anything apart from the fact I was born on the same date it started.