[mukto-mona] A Bangladeshi-born author releases a breakthrough novel about her homeland

Artists to Watch: Books

A Bangladeshi-born author releases a breakthrough novel about her homeland

By ROBERT J. HUGHES
January 5, 2008; Page W2

 

The new book "A Golden Age," by Tahmima Anam, is one of the first novels written in English about the 1971 civil war that eventually created Bangladesh. It is also the debut of writer Tahmima Anam, who was born in Bangladesh, but grew up in New York City and Bangkok and now lives in London.

 

Ms. Anam attended college in the U.S. and received her doctorate in anthropology at Harvard. "A Golden Age" arose out of research Ms. Anam conducted in her native country, when she interviewed people who had been involved in the war, including student activists, guerilla fighters, mothers and politicians. "By the time I finished the research, I knew that I should write a novel about the war," Ms. Anam says. Initially, she had thought of attempting an epic with sweeping battle scenes, but ended up writing an intimate story about a young widow, Rehana Haque, who is caught up in the chaos of the war and strives to protect her children. Ms. Anam incorporated some of her research, but the main character of Rehana is based on her own grandmother, who is now in her early 80s.

 

"A Golden Age," says Ms. Anam, is the first of a trilogy, and she is already at work on the next novel, which will be set during the partition of India during 1947 and concern Rahan's father. The third novel is likely to focus on contemporary Bangladesh. "A Golden Age" was published last year in Britain and received glowing notices there. The Independent called it "a powerful debut novel."

 

 

Hasni Essa
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