Like most Americans, my knowledge of Bangladesh has largely been limited to tragic news reports of devastating flooding every few years. However, unlike most Americans, I do at least know that Bangladesh was formerly part of present-day Pakistan, and fought a war for independence in 1971. That war is both the main catalyst in this debut novel, and the backdrop for the drama that Anam presents.
The story revolves around Rehana, a widow in her late 30s, whose main concern in life is her two teenage children, Maya and Soheil. In a prologue (the book opens with the stunning line "Dear Husband, today I lost our children."), we learn how Rehana's children were legally awarded to her brother-in-law following the death of their father, and of her struggle to regain custody. Although the separation only lasted a year and a half, it left a deep scar of guilt and remorse in Rehana that never healed. Every year she holds a party to celebrate their return, and it is at the 1971 edition of that party that we meet her children, neighbors, and friends for the first time. This party establishes the domestic tranquility that will soon be shattered by the coming war.
Rehana is apolitical herself, but soon finds herself dragged into the struggle for independence via the strong political views of her university-going children. What starts as something she can largely ignore becomes less so as atrocities on the part of the Pakistani army become more than just abstract bad news, and start to affect her friends and family. This is the kind of material that could easily become a weighty saga, or melodramatic soap opera, but Anam deftly avoids the pitfalls of both. As the civil war grows more intense, and her children become more involved and are more at danger, Rehana maintains a quiet determination to support them and do what she can for them. This theme of a mother's love is central to the story, and is carried out with pitch-perfect restraint. In fact, I suspect that it is a book that will be much more emotionally engaging for parents than non-parents. (I've definitely noticed that I respond to certain plots and themes much differently as a parent than I did prior to having a child -- and this is exactly the kind of story I don't think I would have connected with prior to having a child.)
The story unfolds in episodes over the course of nine months, with some leaps in time along the way. This is a nice technique that avoids the need to detail every single day along the way, and allows Anam to concentrate on what is meaningful. There are a number of compelling subplots, such as Soheil's love for a neighbor's daughter, Rehana's harboring and tending to a wounded rebel leader, and the children's blossoming into adults. In every case, she writes with compassion and heart for her characters without being cloying or sappy.
It's not a perfect book -- there are a few minor flaws, the foremost of which is a lack of glossary to the 50+ Urdu or Bengali terms used in the book. This isn't critical, but it is annoying. Another is the relative lack of sense of place throughout the book. The author could do a little more to create a truly vivid picture of Dhaka, as well as the Rehana's house -- neither really comes alive on the page. But these are relatively minor quibbles with a work as masterful and engaging as this. It's the first in a projected trilogy, and I can't wait for the next!
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