Costa Book Awards 2007 Judges' comment: "A very accomplished, mature narrative voice set against the backdrop of the Bangladeshi civil war - a moving and original perspective on a little known slice of history with a highly affecting and brave ending."
Spring, 1971, East Pakistan. Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her beloved children, Sohail and Maya. Her young family is growing up fast, and Rehana wants to remember this day forever. But out on the hot city streets, something violent is brewing. As the civil war develops, a war which will eventually see the birth of Bangladesh, Rehana struggles to keep her children safe and finds herself facing a heartbreaking dilemma.
Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1975 and grew up in Paris, New York City, and Bangkok. She trained as an anthropologist, earning a PhD from Harvard University. In 2005 she completed an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, London, and is the recipient of a Writing Fellowship from the Arts Council of England. She lives in London.
