Sorayya Khan's debut novel is a powerful and poignant story of memory, family, tragedy, and forgiveness. Set in modern-day Islambad, Pakistan, the book depicts an extraordinary child who enables her mother, Sajida, and her grandfather, Ali, to confront the pasts they have chosen to suppress. Through Noor's artwork, her family members are transported through their haunted memories of the 1970 cyclone that claimed the lives of a million people and the violent atrocities of the 1971 conflict between East and West Pakistan that eventually created the independent country of Bangladesh. As Noor's drawings bring to life sights, sounds, smells, and sensations from the past, her family is forced to admit of the betrayals and disillusionments that they thought had been buried with time. Moving, heartbreaking, and unsettling by turns, Noor is a novel about the horrors of war, the power of forgiveness, and, most important, the strength of the human spirit.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an important story that reveals through the poignant character of a little girl, Noor, the horrors and quest to rehabilitate after the civil war in 1971 between east and west Pakistan. Educational, eye-opening and tender.
Format:Paperback
NOOR is one of those very rare books that you keep going back to in order to reconnect with the elegance of the writing and the depth of the insights. The story of the young girl and her drawings deepen our understanding of secondary traumas way beyond any simple theoretical model or grandstanding. Instead, it is a novel whose delicate craft of prose and plot wind the reader into a deeper understanding of families and the 1971 civil war in Pakistan, placing us in a world we knew little about but become immersed in. NOOR takes large sweeping, epic struggles of civil war and destruction in South Asia and invites the reader into a world that can be comprehended and lived in, a world that refutes the spectacle of the epic and the dehumanization of theorising. I have bought copies of this book for every one I know who loves powerful writing of depth and precision and heart, and who wants to engage and learn about the world rather than to make proclamations about it. With so much attention directed to writers from India working in English these days, I wonder if exquisite books like NOOR about Pakistan have been overlooked by readers and critics alike. This book is THE perfect gift for readers in your life looking to stretch beyond assumptions and looking to read a major literary talent.
Format:Paperback
A powerful study of the aftermath of the 1971 civil war in Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh through a very resonant human story as the survivors struggle with guilt and hope. Well-written, insightful, about a piece of history that has been left by the wayside.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Touching Tale
Noor was a wonderful expression of love. Great read - even for those unaware of the events that were taking place in the subcontinent at the beginning of the 1970's. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Anne
Touching & Haunting
Noor is a story that stays with you for months after you read it. It is a story of a little known war (at least in the West) and its aftermath. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Jenni
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