Review
The eyes of the world have recently been turned toward the country of
Pakistan. Many have watched with sadness and concern as the turmoil within
Pakistan's government and among its citizens grows. Worse, Pakistani citizens
are dying – leaders, angry militants and innocent bystanders alike.
First-time novelist Tahmima Anam has written a story of another tumultuous
season in Pakistan's recent history, the transition of East Pakistan to
independent Bangladesh. Her novel explores how far a person or group of people
will go for someone or something that they fiercely love, while offering a
timely glimpse of a not so distant conflict in Pakistan.
A Golden Age describes the
Bangladesh War of Independence from the perspective of one woman, Rehana Haque.
Rehana is a widow, a Calcutta-born resident of Dhaka (East Pakistan/Bangladesh)
and most of...
Beyond the Book
First-time novelist Tahmima Anam has written for The New York Times, Granta and
The
New Statesman. Links to some of her articles are provided on her
website.
Her father, Mahfuz Anam, is the editor of The Daily Star, Bangladesh's foremost English language daily newspaper and chairman of a Bangladeshi NGO called the Freedom Foundation. Her grandfather was journalist, politician and writer Abul Mansur Ahmed, who founded the Bangladesh
Awami League and was imprisoned for four years between 1958 and 1962 when martial law was declared.
In an interview on NPR, Anam explains that her main character, Rehama, is based on her own grandmother's experience and that one of the other main characters is based on her uncle.
The Bangla2000 web portal offers a...
