That didn’t have a lot about the exact historical events of the Rhodesian War, but I still loved it, so something else must be wrong. 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). Not a revolutionary, Rehana nevertheless agrees with her children's views and, with a mother's mixed feelings borne of fear of the risks they are taking, gets drawn into their guerilla activities herself. Rehana's sisters in Karachi and sister-in-law in Lahore are, in contrast (although they all grew up in Calcutta), contemptuous and racist towards Hindus.

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. It was to the West that her two small children had been sent in 1959 after she lost a court appeal to keep them. 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. 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.She is a single mother; her children are in their late teens and are part of the struggle for independence. Though the Indian military was already pumping the Bengalis against West Pakistan, the Bengali efforts bore fruit when the Indian Army intervened in December 1971 on the side of the Bengali, Pakistan gave Independence to East Pakistan on 16 December 1971, and thus Bangladesh came into being. Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age plunges you right into the twin events that form the basis of Rehana's character as a parent, fiercely protective and determined to have them near her.

From all that we see of it in the news over here in Canada, you would think the country is in a perpetual state of flood/disaster/famine.This was not because Rehana wanted to do it for her country, she did the things she did, for her kids. Apparently this is the first of a trilogy about Bangladesh, so I'm definitely interested in the other two books. There is the brutality of war, mostly at a distance, sometimes present and political events intrude; but there is a continuum of family life, food, neighbours, love and loss. Mujib was prevented from taking office by President General Yahya Khan, of West Pakistan, who along with many of his fellow Punjabis and Pathans held the Bengalis in low regard.

e. the split between East and West Pakistan in 1971, the central theme is a mother’s efforts to save her children. But civil conflict is brewing, a conflict that will lead to Bangladeshi independence, but will also lead to terrible violence and countless individual tragedies. And then I saw the brown dirty waters, gray skies and tense worried faces that were such a familiar sight on the newscasts.

It is the story of a family, of a mother who had given up her children (but not really) and of her children's political activities for their blossoming country. Most of the descriptions of the book compel me to compare it with the book ‘The days of 1971’ by Jahanara Imam.

Her life centres around her household, and that remains true even when revolution breaks out and she finds herself sheltering freedom fighters. It is an old-fashioned yarn of family love triumphing over adversity, then being further tried by the murky oppressions of rebellion and war, with a good twist to the ending. Her second novel, The Good Muslim, was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was also longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. 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! She grew up listening to the stories of her grandmother harboring freedom fighters and hiding guns and weapons in the family garden.Descumpanita de turnura pe care a luat-o viata ei, nu reuseste sa il convinga pe judecator ca ii poate creste singura pe Sohail si Maya, iar acestia sunt luati timp de un an de rude. Liberation war will always be a red mark in the history of Bangladesh and as a proud Bangladeshi It always warms my heart seeing people all around the world reading and knowing about us, and "A Golden Age" opens a window for them to take a peek at our Glorious history, history of suffer, anguish, history of social, economic and political repression, history of bravery of our war heros and a golden triumphant, a country of our own! The children grow up and into their own lives: Maya, always less loved and prickly for it; Sohail, spoiled, headstrong with a fatal obsessive love that will cost them all dearly. I have done quite a bit of reading this year on India and the subcontinent, both fiction and non-fiction, so the many untranslated phrases, names of foods, items of clothing, prayer times and rituals, etc, were all quite familiar to me, but for the uninitiated a glossary would have been helpful.