Critics' Opinion:
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Published May 2018
320 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From an immensely talented new voice in international fiction, a sweeping tour de force that seamlessly interweaves five love stories that, together, chronicle sixty years of Bangladeshi history.
Shahryar, a recent PhD graduate and father of nine-year-old Anna, must leave the US when his visa expires. In their last remaining weeks together, we learn Shahryar's history, in a village on the Bay of Bengal, where a poor fisherman and his wife are preparing to face a storm of historic proportions. That story intersects with those of a Japanese pilot, a British doctor stationed in Burma during World War II, and a privileged couple in Calcutta who leaves everything behind to move to East Pakistan following the Partition of India. Inspired by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, in which half a million-people perished overnight, the structure of this riveting novel mimics the storm itself. Building to a series of revelatory and moving climaxes, it shows the many ways in which families love, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another.
At once grounded in history and fantastically imaginative, The Storm explores the humanity that connects us beyond the surface differences of race, religion, and nationality. It is an epic novel in the tradition of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, by a singularly gifted and perceptive new writer.
"Starred Review. In crystalline prose, Anwar tells stories that span continents and decades as his characters interconnect ... A remarkable debut, in which fiction vividly portrays specific events in history." - Booklist
"Starred Review. With a sprawling cast of vividly drawn characters, most of whom must negotiate a dizzying array of religious, economic, and national boundaries, this powerful and important debut is a story for our time." - Library Journal
"An overstuffed narrative and sloppy writing mar a novel that, despite it all, still has its moments." - Kirkus
"Complex, elegantly-composed, and page-turning at once, The Storm is a novel both grand and intimate in its scope. Arif Anwar's ability to inhabit a variety of characters across countries and time is nothing short of astounding. I adored this book." - Armando Lucas Correa, author of The German Girl
"Arif Anwar's masterful storytelling crosses continents and generations, illuminating how personal choices can have sweeping repercussions. The Storm is an elegant, stunning novel that captured my imagination and my heart until the end." - Shilpi Somaya Gowda, #1 international bestselling author of Secret Daughter and The Golden Son
"This book is a marvel, combining the sweep of a saga with the precision of a page-turner. Arif Anwar moves us deftly through time and across borders, beautifully illustrating the strange intersections we call fate, and reminding us how the past shapes the present." - Rumaan Alam, author of Rich and Pretty and That Kind of Mother
"Arif Anwar's The Storm is a brilliantly textured tapestry exploring the natural and man-made disasters that define a human story. And like a true storm, it is by turns devastating, humbling and cathartic." - Nadia Hashimi, author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell
"This riveting novel weaves the interlocking tales of compelling characters finding their way through turbulent times, crisscrossing nations and continents, finding redemption in the gift of love and the magical power of words. The Storm is lyrical, lovely and captivating." - Mary Janigan, author of Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark
"Lovers whisper, immigration papers rustle, gunfire explodes as this novel sweeps backwards and forwards across continents and decades….The interconnected stories come alive with sensual detail…This is Bangladeshi history - all our history - as we enter a new world - our world - through the absorbing stories of The Storm." - Kim Echlin, author of Under the Visible Life
This information about The Storm was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arif Anwar was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, just miles from the Bay of Bengal. He has previously worked for BRAC, one of the world's largest nongovernmental organizations, on issues of poverty alleviation, and for UNICEF Myanmar on public health issues. Arif has a PhD in education from the University of Toronto. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife Si (Sandra) Lian. The Storm is his first novel.
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