A Golden Age - Tapa blanda

'Beautifully observed ... lingers in the memory ... Daily life in Dhaka - from gin rummy to gardening - is captured with skill and tenderness' -- Sunday Telegraph 'This is storytelling at its best ... A beautiful story of hope, heroism and human survival amid cruelty. Everyone should read this and learn' -- Helen Lederer, Daily Express 'My reader adored this Guardian and Costa-shortlisted debut and was happy to compare it with The God of Small Things and Brick Lane' -- Bookseller 'Anam achieves a delicacy and tenderness in conjuring the "threads of feeling" between people, a poetic precision of images: kites floating, huts sinking into the sea, "hungry, cracked earth". From the wreckage and destruction grows a voice of real eloquence' -- Anita Sethi, Independent 'Anam has created for Bangladesh what Romesh Gunesekera managed for Sri Lanka: a ballad for perserverance ... A Golden Age pays tribute, with sensitivity and restrained passion, to those who fought for one such arbour: a country to call home' -- Christian House, Independent on Sunday 'Anam has her own distinctive voice ... the authenticity shines through Anam's beautiful, simple prose' -- Martha Kearney, Harper's Bazaar 'A stunning novel lays bare a mother's ordeal in the gulf between the two Pakistans' -- Observer 'A Golden Age compellingly twists the personal and the historical, humming with handed down wisdom' -- Richard Godwin, Literary Review 'Vivid ... momentous change and heartbreaking dilemmas' -- Publishing News 'I'd put a few bob on Tahmima Anam -- the extract from her novel-in-progress ... is a vivid and intriguing slice of Bangladesh in 1959' (Written following the publication of Bedford Square, an anthology of new writing from Poet Laureate Andrew Motion's Creative Writing Programme at Royal Holloway, which included an extract from A Golden Age) -- The Times 20060201 'A Bengali Suite Francaise' -- Jonathan Freedland, Newsnight Review 20060201 'A steely tale of how one family deals with political unrest ... Moving and beautifully written' -- Woman 20060201 'Anam writes with a poetic lyricism that is both seductively romantic and explores troubling themes and violent truths with searing verisimilitude. An outstanding debut that glows with the golden hue of the title' -- Easy Living 20060201 'The book touches on love, devotion and hope' -- Hephizibah Anderson, Vogue 20060201 'A moving novel of deceptive simplicity and strength' -- Waterstone's Books Quarterly 20060201 'Anam deftly balances the story of a nation against that of a family' -- Kamila Shamsie, Guardian 20060201 'A Golden Age is an ambitious and powerful debut' -- Natasha Tripney, New Statesman 20060201 'Anam's novel flows easily, packing in a wealth of history as well as attention to detail that effortlessly make the image come alive ... An assured, moving read' -- Sarah Birke, The Times 20060201 'A real page-tuner, with a bravura, heart stopping ending' -- Sunday Telegraph/ Seven 20060201 'This book is by turn moving, sad, but always absorbing' -- Good Book Guide 20060201 'With A Golden Age, Anam is reminding Bangladeshis born, like her, after the war just what independence was all about and what the hopes and aspirations of their parents were before corruption ate them away' -- Tim Cribb, South China Morning Post 20060201 'Anam has done a service to her country ... No other writer has treated the subject with such clarity before, in English' -- TLS 20060201 'I had tears in my eyes' -- Woman's Own 20060201 'Talented debut novelist Anam has written a striking story of a spirited mother struggling to bring up her children, set against the turbulent backdrop of Bangladesh's 1971 war of liberation' -- Financial Times 20060201 'Anam has done a service to her country ... No other writer has treated the subject with such clarity before, in English' -- Times Literary Supplement 20060201 'Anam is an intelligent, evocative and subtle writer and her tale of war from a woman's perspective is artful and moving' -- The Age 20060201 'Striking' -- The Canberra Times 20060201 'An ambitious and powerful debut, featuring fine writing and rich, vivid imagery ... Impressive piece of work' -- Australian Financial Review 20060201 'Written with an eloquent simplicity, the noel grows in power. This is a very fine debut and deserves a wide audience' -- Good Reading Magazine 20060201 'Anam's narrative is eloquent, the prose wonderfully sparse but teeming with delicate images, moving chapter by chapter with precision though the nine months of civil war to a heart-stopping ending. She is a breathtaking new talent' -- Sunday Tasmanian 20060201 'Absorbing' -- Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin 20060201 'Anam has done her research well, and combines a detailed historicak knowledge with an eye for colour and beauty that makes this first novel an exceedingly enjoyable read' -- Sun Herald 20060201 'Breakthrough novel' -- Wall Street Journal 20060201 'Vivid debut novel ... Anam's easy poetry and soulful writing is illuminating in the way that war itself is: It sweeps in, seizes our consciousness, and fashions a fresh window into the dynamics of human suffering' -- Elle (US) 20060201 'Compelling' -- Oprah Magazine, (Debut of the month) 20060201 'Beautifully told, intimate and touching; Anam has a knack for making you care so desperately for her characters that you admire their failings as much as their strengths' -- Daily Mail 20060201 '(A) beautifully written debut ... (the) story is transformed by two things: the quality of the writing - notably in descriptive passages and the record of the women's day-today conversation - and the tale's backdrop, a war that few in this country know much about' -- Waterstone's Books Quarterly 20060201 'A fascinating, eloquent book' -- The Sunday Business Post 20060201 'An adroit meditation on competing forms of love' -- Daily Telegraph 20060201 'Anam's prose is glowing and graceful throughout; whether detailing the degradations of a refugee camp, the tenderness of an unexpected love affair, or the exhilarated dread of a nation in cataclysm' -- The Guardian 20060201

In the spring of 1971, Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her two children. What she does not know is that, after today, their lives will change forever. For this is East Pakistan, a country erupting into war. As she struggles to keep her children safe, Rehana will find herself faced with a heartbreaking dilemma. Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, A Golden Age is an unforgettable story of revolution, hope and unexpected heroism, and of the great lengths that can be traversed in the name of love.