A Golden Age

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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. Throughout the novel you will not be able to differentiate the seasons, day or night, morning and noon, afternoon and evening. I'm making it my off-duty duty to experience FIVE books, FIVE films, art, TV, music and food from every country in the world (where feasible).

During this operation, about a million East Pakistanis fled to neighbouring India and anything between 30,000 and 3,000,000 East Pakistanis were massacred. Do not expect to learn a lot about the Bangladesh War, Bangladesh People or its culture from this book, you will have a small idea about those after you read the book, but the book in whole is a novel about Rehana and her family!This includes citing the 1963 film Cleopatra before it was released which left some critics questioning some of the liberties that Anam took with the fictional characters and telling of the story. A Golden Age is laced with transliterations of Bangla and Urdu words, which will be understood by those familiar with the sub-continent, but may puzzle readers who are not.

What sense did it make,' its people wonder in this novel, 'to have a country in two halves, poised on either side of India like a pair of horns?

Anam's skill at gradually building a sense of doom was quite impressive - I almost couldn't read the last few pages. Her life centres around her household, and that remains true even when revolution breaks out and she finds herself sheltering freedom fighters. Her father, Mahfuz Anam, edits and publishes an English language newspaper, has chaired the Asia news Network, and is actively involved in media and political life in Bangladesh. The author shows the fears and animosities among the various religious and ethnic groups, while also giving beautiful examples of tenderness and generosity from people willing to cross those lines and care deeply for those who are supposed to be enemies. This, her debut novel, is set in 1971 in East Pakistan, where Rehana Haque, a young widow, is throwing a party.