Customer Reviews

A Golden Age

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

War novels like Gone with the Wind, Sophie's Choice, The Book Thief to name a few, capture the stresses and choices that ordinary people are forced to make as the brutality and deprivation of war, occupation, captivity, that change the ordinary circumstances of life into a living nightmare. This book is no different.

The book starts with a prologue where the widow Rehana sits at her husband's grave and tells him that she has lost the children. Because of her poverty, her husband's brother and childless sister-in-law have taken custody of Sohail and Maya, Rehana's 7 and 5 year olds. Even though they are gone for only a year, Rehana feels in her heart the yearning gap of that year and devotes herself totally to her children.

Every year, they have a party where they celebrate the children's return. March 1971 was no different. The party had become a routine, the same guests, Rehana's neighbors, a tenant family from India, the gin-rummy ladies and her daughter's friend. They are celebrating and optimistic of the future. But within a few short weeks, tanks rolled into Dhaka, refugees start streaming out, massacres occur in the city, and her children are drawn into the resistance movement. Life is anything but ordinary when Rehana is drawn into the resistance by her son and daughter. Faced with her guilt at how she lost them for a short while when they were young, and the secret of how she was able to bring them back, Rehana goes along with their efforts, hiding guns and supplies in her home and harboring and caring for a wounded major that at first she regards as a nuisance.

She would like nothing better than to retreat into her routine, her shell, sitting at her late husband's grave and speaking to him, and lying to him and herself about the normalcy of her life, ignoring her daughter's cold shoulder and indifference, and her own guilt at the shameful acts she took to bring her children back. But as the weeks went by, taking care of the major who only greeted her with silent eyes, she begins to open up to him, telling him of her secrets, as if to atone for them and he silently bears her secrets for her.

The war tears Rehana's circle apart, lives tragically destroyed, destinies changed. Rehana meets her former tenant in a refugee camp, a walking shell, with nothing left inside her except sorrow, for the choice she made, she'll pay with tears the rest of her life.

At the end, Rehana herself makes a heartbreaking choice, and even though the war ends a few weeks later, there is no victory, only sorrow in Rehana's heart. As the rest of the city celebrates Rehana speaks to her dead husband, telling him that this time, she did not lose her children.

This is a very poignant novel with plenty of action, raw emotions, youthful enthusiasm, and the painful legacies of war, and the birth of a nation.

Tahmima Anam's novel "A Golden Age" was an interesting novel about a widow, her children, and the war for independence in Bangladesh. It also is a novel about taking risks for noble causes, romance during impossible times, and the growing pains of both children and countries; really, this is an excellent novel, that falls just short of "instant classic" status.

Anam's main point seems to be that it's impossible for people to stay apart from a war for independence; people must choose sides even if they initially wish to stay apart. Anam's protagonist, Rehana Haque, has to watch her daughter, and her son, get caught up in the war effort, and has the same reactions many women would have; she doesn't want her son to go to war, and she doesn't want her daughter anywhere near it. Complicating matters further, Rehana isn't even from Bangladesh; she originally was from India (and speaks fluent Urdu), and only married her late husband to escape poverty -- yet she grew both to love her husband and her adopted country (then called East Pakistan).

As more and more things happen to Bangladesh -- and to her children's college friends -- Rehana grows more and more disgusted. Despite the many years of isolation she's endured -- some self-inflicted, some not -- since her husband's passing, Rehana knows she has to take a stand -- especially after her son first goes off to war, and then her daughter as well. Rehana knows she can't sit idly by, when things can be done, and she ends up aiding the war effort in as many ways she can.

Then she becomes attracted to a man who's recovering in her home from a serious wound; he's her age, he's had quite a bit of life experience, and he doesn't judge her for any of her past actions -- good, bad, or indifferent. This heightens the tension overall, and gives Rehana's spiritual and emotional journey/reawakening more depth and breadth.

There's a lot in this novel, and a lot to like about it; there's a richness of feeling and description that adds greatly to the way this book is presented, as Rehana's descriptions tend to be stark and rather uncomplicated (even though she herself is anything but).

I appreciated this novel quite a bit, and would recommend it to anyone who was looking for an accurate portrayal of the struggle for Bangladesh's independence; I also appreciated that the violence that was portrayed (the way the P.O.W. was treated, for example) was not glorified -- it was portrayed as disgusting, as most reasonable people would see it.

At any rate, I think this is an excellent novel, and find it just shy of a five-star effort.

Very strong four star effort, recommended.

Barb Caffrey

I knew very little about the history of the country of Bangladesh and it's quest for independence and found this book to be very interesting and informative.

Also enjoyed the family story about the grieving widow Rehana and how she deals with the loss and threats to her children - this is an illuminating tale about acts of heroism during a time of war. The language in this novel is beautiful yet simple - when a novelist can lay out such complexities in a tightly written book with simple, unpretentious prose, it is a joy to read. A Golden Age gives the reader a gradual build of tension that kept me engaged and turning the page through to the end.

I think book clubs would really enjoy this book because there is lots to discuss as it relates to the extreme devotion that a mother can have for their children.

In the beginning, I was frustrated that there was not a glossary for many of the Urdu words and expressions. This omission was an annoying distraction from the total experience. Emotionally, however, the simple prose builds gradually to a dramatic and poignant tension, necessitating the need to finish the book in the wee hours of the night.
After finishing the novel. I happened to hear the author on NPR noting that the main character, Rehama, was based on her own grandmother's experience and that one of the other main characters was her uncle. Her grandmother actually did hide the weapons at the house and was confronted by the Pakistani army at gunpoint as they were looking for her son. It would have been an added bonus to have included that information at the end, making this chilling and uplifting story all the more poignant.

Book clubs should love this book, not only for the exploration of the depths of a mother's love,but also for a fascinating historical and intimate look at Bangladesh's quest for independence.

A well written and lyrical tale about a family caught up in the furor of 1971. However, to someone unfamiliar with the environs, language and culture, I can see how the characters might seem superficial and distant at times. However, to those familiar with the Dhanmondi's Road 5 or the smell of fuchkas and biriyani, or the burning heat of July and the sweet rains of the monsoons, this book is both evocative and compelling. In not seeking to be an overarching history of the 1971 war, the book has opened a window into the effects of conflict on a human, personal level and told the story of the many often caught up in turmoil with little prior deliberation. There are numerous books and articles that can tell the historical details of the conflict but Anam's book is a loving tale told with compassion, sympathy and admiration for the courage of ordinary men and women.

A wealth of very talented authors such as Arundhati Roy, Monica Ali, and Jhumpa Lahiri have made South Asian women writers the hot ticket. This book, Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age, is one that follows in that wake. I feel Anam has some natural story-telling ability and will probably mature into an excellent novelist, but overall this work has a large number of weaknesses. While I often appreciate a novel that is written in simple language, Anam's book is often unpolished. The book is filled with awkward phrases and metaphors that don't work. ("the blood leaping in their skins" "He entered the room sleekly." "The weather was a gale in her stomach."). However, to Anam's credit, she does successfully weave in a motif of sugar imagery which felt interesting and original.

The book is also too short, a complaint I almost never make. But back story is ignored so that the reader doesn't feel the impact the characters do when a girl decides to marry someone besides the main character's son. We also can't experience much of what the main character goes through when she loses her children to her brother-in-law for a year as we are not exposed to the extent of her love for her kids until too far into the novel.

Descriptive detail is also spotty. The protagonist, Rehana, proclaims that Dhaka is her city and very much a part of her, yet we hardly get a picture of Dhaka at all. We know there's a university, a market, some slums near the main train station, a cricket stadium, a lot of rickshaws and not much else. And it is crucial to understand why Dhaka means so much when actually the main character is from Calcutta, her children are in Lahore, and her sisters are in Karachi. Their native language is Urdu. This is not a family that comes with generations of Bengali history or even years of fond memories. Why does Rehana need Dhaka and Bangladesh?

Sloppy editing also hurts this novel. It reads "Rehana opened the Holy Book" and later on the same page "Just as Rehana was about to open the Holy Book..." There are also too many instances where the author does not adequately explain Bengali or Urdu terms which will probably alienate many Western readers.

It's difficult to weave in a lot of character development, necessary back story, and rich setting and still have the pacing to get to the guns and explosions before page 60, but I suspect a more experienced author could have done it. The book does move along at a clip, and the author keeps tensions high, but it could have been so much more gripping had the author given us the means to care deeply about her characters.

A book about a far off land, a war, and a widow... I was certainly expecting a thrilling, suspenseful, maybe even adventurous novel through the sights and sounds of east Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

In contrast, even though this is a very short novel, the author seemed almost afraid to delve into creating a page-turning brutal war novel. This felt like a slow read through the highlights of Rehana Haque's life. Further development of the sights and sounds of this first novel by Tahmima Anam would have taken the reader further into Rehana's world. In doing so, Tahmima Anam could have created a beautiful, vivid landscape set against the pain and stress of war. I really think she missed a great opportunity in this.

Also, other than Rehana Haque's character, the other characters are only mildly developed, leaving the reader wanting to know more. I commend the author however for her storyline, I think this would make a very incredible screenplay. I felt the story itself is truly worthy of a voice, and this book was on a must read list. I was unfamiliar with this historical war, the Independence War of Bangladesh, and the author did a wonderful job of bringing this story to the novel reading public.

If you enjoy historical novels, or are looking for a quick read, this book might interest you. The last 1/4 of the book is fantastic, where author Tahmima Anam really shows her talent for the pen. I would have liked to have seen an included glossary, as many terms are thrown around as if they are English, and nothing will disrupt a novel like going to your dictionary to look up a word. For reading flow, it would have been nice to include that, as well as a pronunciation guide to the names. Those things would have helped the reader to connect more closely to the story. I hope to see many more books by Tahmima Anam, she is a truly promising young author.

I should note that this book would be excellent college reading. It's short enough and has passages subject to interpretation.

Like most Americans, my knowledge of Bangladesh has largely been limited to tragic news reports of devastating flooding every few years. However, unlike most Americans, I do at least know that Bangladesh was formerly part of present-day Pakistan, and fought a war for independence in 1971. That war is both the main catalyst in this debut novel, and the backdrop for the drama that Anam presents.

The story revolves around Rehana, a widow in her late 30s, whose main concern in life is her two teenage children, Maya and Soheil. In a prologue (the book opens with the stunning line "Dear Husband, today I lost our children."), we learn how Rehana's children were legally awarded to her brother-in-law following the death of their father, and of her struggle to regain custody. Although the separation only lasted a year and a half, it left a deep scar of guilt and remorse in Rehana that never healed. Every year she holds a party to celebrate their return, and it is at the 1971 edition of that party that we meet her children, neighbors, and friends for the first time. This party establishes the domestic tranquility that will soon be shattered by the coming war.

Rehana is apolitical herself, but soon finds herself dragged into the struggle for independence via the strong political views of her university-going children. What starts as something she can largely ignore becomes less so as atrocities on the part of the Pakistani army become more than just abstract bad news, and start to affect her friends and family. This is the kind of material that could easily become a weighty saga, or melodramatic soap opera, but Anam deftly avoids the pitfalls of both. As the civil war grows more intense, and her children become more involved and are more at danger, Rehana maintains a quiet determination to support them and do what she can for them. This theme of a mother's love is central to the story, and is carried out with pitch-perfect restraint. In fact, I suspect that it is a book that will be much more emotionally engaging for parents than non-parents. (I've definitely noticed that I respond to certain plots and themes much differently as a parent than I did prior to having a child -- and this is exactly the kind of story I don't think I would have connected with prior to having a child.)

The story unfolds in episodes over the course of nine months, with some leaps in time along the way. This is a nice technique that avoids the need to detail every single day along the way, and allows Anam to concentrate on what is meaningful. There are a number of compelling subplots, such as Soheil's love for a neighbor's daughter, Rehana's harboring and tending to a wounded rebel leader, and the children's blossoming into adults. In every case, she writes with compassion and heart for her characters without being cloying or sappy.

It's not a perfect book -- there are a few minor flaws, the foremost of which is a lack of glossary to the 50+ Urdu or Bengali terms used in the book. This isn't critical, but it is annoying. Another is the relative lack of sense of place throughout the book. The author could do a little more to create a truly vivid picture of Dhaka, as well as the Rehana's house -- neither really comes alive on the page. But these are relatively minor quibbles with a work as masterful and engaging as this. It's the first in a projected trilogy, and I can't wait for the next!

I became totally swept up in Tahmima Anam's novel, "A Golden Age." The emphasis on the domestic family story that took place during the political unrest. Previously, my knowledge of the country has been most influenced by the George Harrison's The Concert for Bangladesh with the starving refugee picture on the cover. I read in the news about the flooding during monsoon season as happened this year, but otherwise know little about the country. Rehana Haque's story swept me up. It becomes universal and easy to relate to because its largest themes are about family relationship, something we can understand no matter what our culture or religion. Rehana's devotion to her son Sohail and her daughter Maya kept me gripped to the page. During Sohail's joining the resistance and burying guns beneath the rose bushes, it had me biting my nails with suspense. The sequence as Rehana flees to Calcutta and observes her daughter as a devoted and efficient worker highlighted how families change as children grow into adults. Rehana's sparse but tasteful romance with the Major brought just a whisper of joy into the midst of such tragedy. I found Anam's prose sweeping and moving. Bravo!

A Golden Age: A Novel by Tahmima Anam is the best piece of fiction I've read via the Amazon Vine program. Ms. Anam tells the story of the 1971 revolution in East Pakistan that resulted in creation of the independent nation of Bangladesh. She focuses on how such a cataclysmic event affects the lives of just a few people--primarily a woman and her two almost-grown children with ties in both East and West Pakistan. Americans may think of the Indian subcontinent as being one giant overpopulated place, but the diversity of language, religion, and culture creates both animosity and shaky alliances. The drama and poignancy of the events during time of war bring to mind three other excellent books - A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens, Sophie's Choice (Modern Critical Interpretations Series) by William Styron and the more recent The Kite Runner (Riverhead Essential Editions) by Khaled Hosseini. The relative obscurity of Bangladesh's battle for independence might prevent Anam's book from gaining the following of these classics, but the power of her story is hardly diminished. My only quibble was how quickly Anam related the end of the war (which lasted less than a year) once the difficult choices at the heart of the story were made. Perhaps she thought that by doing so, she kept the focus on the family, and not on the larger story. Still, I would have liked to learn more about how such an apparently desperate and overmatched guerilla-based revolution succeeded in less than one year. Five stars for what is there minus a star for what is missing. Still, a highly recommended read for lovers of fiction about the subcontinent.