It is also the first novel in a trilogy, the story continues in The Good Muslim and The Bones of Grace: A Novel.

In many ways, Reena is an everywoman as she struggles to keep what remains of her family together and alive. We then went on to Kathmandu, where we came upon a human chain dredging a river looking for bodies, after a busy but rickety wooden bridge collapsed.It also effectively illustrates the strength of maternal love, and the lengths a woman will go to to protect her children. Povestea incepe inainte de 1971, atunci cand Rehana isi pierde temporar copiii, dupa moartea sotului. As it is though, it is a book rife with big names, and big events and big, lofty ideals that can't ever be bothered with the dirt and strife that are real lives. Rehana's sisters in Karachi and sister-in-law in Lahore are, in contrast (although they all grew up in Calcutta), contemptuous and racist towards Hindus.

Epoca de aur descrie anul in care Bangladeshul si-a castigat independenta fata de Pakistan din perspectiva Rehanei, o tanara vaduva, mama a doi copii. The writing is flabby and weak before the war starts and when it hits, the bad guys are easy to spot (they're either obscenely rich and wanting to commit genocide or else they have spittle--her word, not mine--hanging from their mouth) and the good guys are just plain old good. In East Pakistan/Bangladesh, Muslims and Hindus live comfortably in mixed neighbourhoods and in friendship (Rehana's friendly relationship with her Hindu tenants is significantly on display even in their absence). Ultimately, even in the darkness of war there is light, as 'in the midst of all this madness,' Rehana realises, 'I found the world seemed right for the first time in a very long time'. The territories were situated on either side of India as the book phrases "a pair of horns" on either side of India.Sharmeen: Maya's Friend who was captured by the Pakistan army and kept at the cantonment in Dhaka and raped repeatedly. And then I saw the brown dirty waters, gray skies and tense worried faces that were such a familiar sight on the newscasts. In 1971, Rehana's children, Maya and Sohail are now university students and back living with their mother after she discovered a way of becoming financially independent without having to remarry.

However, the writing, although more than proficient, and often very beautiful, wasn’t transporting enough to raise this book above a 3 star read for me.

I love reading about food, and this novel was very satisfying on that score, with every meal at least briefly described. Insa o cercetare mai intensa si o mai mare atentie la detalii ar fi facut o mare diferenta in poveste. The book is more about the personal life of Rehana Haque and her son Sohail and daughter Maya than about the happenings of 1971. On the other hand, I just finished another book concerning how war wreaks havoc in people’s lives, Scribbling The Cat, and that I loved. She grew up in Paris, New York, and Bangkok, learning the story of the Bangladesh Liberation War from her family since her father fought in the war.