This story about the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan takes place from very shortly before the civil war (with a completely unnecessary prologue set 20 years before) until the day before the war is over. As a Muslim woman and mother caught in the midst of a violent conflict, Rehana reminded me of the main character in The Woman from Tantoura, Ruqayya, so I could not help finding this book less impressive than Ashour's superlative novel, although it is certainly affecting and expressive.

Our protagonist, Rehana, is an unintentional hero, pushed by circumstance to be extraordinarily courageous when all she wants is a life of wholeness and peace. 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. I don’t think I’ve read a book set in Bangladesh before, but I have read a lot of books focusing on the human cost of conflict, and this one covered some familiar territory, while feeling a bit episodic at times. I enjoyed this novel set in Bangladesh on the eve of and during the War of Independence with Pakistan in 1971. Growing up with two parents that had been involved with the Bangladesh Liberation War, patriotism was important to Anam's family.

Epoca de aur descrie anul in care Bangladeshul si-a castigat independenta fata de Pakistan din perspectiva Rehanei, o tanara vaduva, mama a doi copii.

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. That those nine months of the war were like nine generations, brimming with lives and deaths; that Sohail had survived, while his friends had died; and that here was the city, burned and blistered and alive, where she was going to see what remained of the man with the scar across his face who had lived in her house for ninety-six days and passed like a storm through her small life. She grew up listening to the stories of her grandmother harboring freedom fighters and hiding guns and weapons in the family garden.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.

There is a moment when Rehana cannot make out her own feelings - 'it could have been a smile, or it could have been a grimace,' she thinks. She was born in 1975 in Dhaka but has grown up abroad (Goodreads says in Paris, New York City and Bangkok). The edition I read was published in 2012 as part of the Canongate ‘ the Canons‘ list, which is a slightly strange mixture of ‘boundary-breaking’ books that Canongate decided either were already classics in their own right, or deserved to be.As a mother, she is circumscribed by the 'yawning, cyclic, inexhaustible need' for the son and daughter who were taken from her. A widow, Rehana, is the central character, suddenly having to navigate revolutionary children, a sudden turn against Bengali nationalism, and an opportunistic brother in law. It revolved around one family; a single mother, her son and daughter, and how their life is affected by the war. Tahmima Anam, the author of A Golden Age was born in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, 4 years after the end of the Bangaldeshi’s struggle against Yahya Khan's forces of West Pakistan.

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. I particularly wanted to understand her daughter, Maya, because Rehana herself seems baffled by her, and only her passionate rage over the fate of her beloved friend Shaheen gives a glimpse of her vulnerabilities. In 2022, the novel was included on the " Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Set on that turbulent time span, A Golden Age is the story of Rehana, a middle aged muslim woman and a mother of two grown up child, caught in the midst of violent atmosphere of 71.

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.