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It reminded me of Shenandoah. A mother tries to keep her grown children from participating in a civil war. But, she learns that you cannot straddle a fence when your friends are being persecuted and your children are fighting for their adopted country's independence.

The premise was good, but the characters weren't grounded enough for me. Relationships between her Pakistani family and her children should have been developed more.

#ReadingAsia

While not the type of story I usually enjoy, and one that I probably wouldn‘t have finished in print, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The audiobook helped provide a sense of place that really brought the characters to life. I found myself caring about the MC‘s experiences, her struggles and challenges with rebuilding her relationship with her children during the Bangladesh Liberation War. #readingasia2021 #bangladesh

In today‘s edition of “bookish coincidences that shouldn‘t be surprising when you follow a book based in Pakistan with a book based in Bangladesh, but are somehow still unexpected”, my current read, set during the Bangladesh War of Independence just referenced Major Zia who happens to be the same man as General Zia, Pakistan President/Dictator, assassinated in the book I finished earlier today. 🤯 #readingasia2021 #bangladesh

The novel starts on the eve of war for Bangladesh's independence in 1971 (instigated by genocide against Bengali by West Pakistan, which is puzzling looking at geography but not so puzzling if you know about Partition.) A widow, Rehana, is the central character, suddenly having to navigate revolutionary children, a sudden turn against Bengali nationalism, and an opportunistic brother in law. ⤵️

📖 Current Reads: A Golden Age

📚Next up on your TBR: The Unquiet Dead

🍿 Last book adaptation you watched: If Beale Street Could Talk

#weekendreads

"Her memories of the children were scrambled and vague. The more she clutched at them, the more distant they became."

The strong motherly sentiments, the continued question of nationalistic identity against a historical background makes this an unforgettable book. Looking forward to continuing this trilogy.
#LitsyPassport
#LitWorld2018GB #Bangladesh

This would‘ve been my first novel from this part of the world, and I was so interested to try it. Unfortunately, the less-than-stellar prose and the paper-thin characters prevented me from getting pulled in. I bailed just short of the 30% mark. I hope to find another, better novel from and about Bangladesh, and, yes, I might try a later one from Tahmima Anam.

This was the “Read around the World” Book Club Read (Goodreads) for January 2018.

Overall, I think this is a solid debut novel covering the nine months of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

For me, especially the first quarter was very discombobulated, but overall I just missed the red thread of the narrative. Also, the characters left me kind of cold, which was odd, especially since the story is really very emotional.

#QuoteOfTheDay

I really enjoyed this book about the war for independence between East Pakistan (now Pakistan) and West Pakistan (now Bangladesh). I learned a lot of history reading this and found it so interesting I actually ended up reading the entire Wikipedia page about Bangladesh (which embarrassingly I have always thought to be a part of India and not it's on separate country) I enjoyed the writing and the way the story is told from a mother's eyes. #pick

#MarchintoReading Here are four Ebooks that I purchased (haven't read )because I #JudgedByItsCover
Has anyone read any of these titles? All I can say is Thank God, hubby can't see my invisible TBR of Ebooks, he would not be pleased 😬He doesn't seem to understand my obsession with buying books and not reading them🙄

I know very little about the Bangladesh War of Independence, so I can't speak for any oversights or errors that may have made their way into this story (which according to some Goodreads reviews, there are several). However, I saw a lot of my own mother in Rehana and thought this was a beautifully told story about her small family and the lengths she would go to in order to protect them. #readharder2017 #litsyreadingchallenge #litsyatoz

I am obsessed with the cover of this book and captivated by the story about this small family during the Bangladesh War of Independence. This is my first year participating in reading challenges (aside from my Goodreads challenge, of course) and it is so exciting to pick up books I likely would not have found or read on my own. It's amazing! #readharder2017 #litsyatoz #litsyreadingchallenge #bowie #catsoflitsy

Set in Bangladesh in 1971 and revealing my lack of knowledge about the country's War of Independence. I have some research to do.

Fascinating historical subject matter and an engaging tale of the lengths a mother will go to for her children. I loved the rich language and the three dimensional characters.