AhmadFosbery49 at 17:07, 5 February 2026

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{{Short description|Novel by Tahmima Anam}}
{{about||other novels|Golden Age (disambiguation)#Literature}}
{{Infobox book
| name = A Golden Age
| orig title =
| translator =
| image = File:Hardcover copy of A Golden Age.jpg
| caption =
| author = [[Tahmima Anam]]
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = English
| series =
| genre = [[Historical novel]], [[War novel]]
| publisher = [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] (UK)
| release_date = March 2007 (UK)
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]])
| pages =
| isbn = 0-7195-6010-1
| oclc = 181926640
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = [[The Good Muslim]]
}}
'''''A Golden Age''''' is the first novel of the [[Bangladesh]]-born writer [[Tahmima Anam]].<ref name=":8">{{cite book|title=A golden age : a novel|last=Anam|first=Tahmima|date=2009|publisher=Harper Perennial|isbn=978-0061478758|location=New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/goldenage00tahm}}</ref> It tells the story of the [[Bangladesh War of Liberation]] through the eyes of one family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2008/03/review-tahmima-anams-golden-age.html|title=Review: Tahmima Anam's ''A Golden Age''|last=Singh|first=Amardeep|website=Lehigh University|type=Blog|access-date=2015-07-22}}</ref> The novel was awarded the prize for Best First Book in the [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] 2008. It was also shortlisted for the 2007 [[Guardian First Book Award]]. The first chapter of the novel appeared in the January 2007 edition of ''[[Granta]]'' magazine.

In 2022, the novel was included on the "[[Big Jubilee Read]]" list of 70 books by [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] authors, selected to celebrate the [[Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Ynpj933DJ2YG5nsMS6fn8k/a-literary-celebration-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-record-breaking-reign|title=The Big Jubilee Read: A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign|website=BBC|date=17 April 2022|access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref>

== Synopsis ==
This historical fiction novel centers the point of view of Rehana Haque, a widowed mother who struggles through [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] as both her children become increasingly involved with the war efforts.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=A Golden Age|last=Anam|first=Tahmima|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7195-6010-1|location=United Kingdom}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Women and War: Negotiating the Interstital Spaces Between Gender and Nation in Tahmima Anam's "A Golden Age"|last=Snider|first=Cynthia|year=2010|pages=Chapter 5}}</ref> The book starts with the death of Rehana's husband and losing then regaining the custody of her children, and then fast forwards to the start of the war where Rehana struggles again to hold on to her children.<ref name=":2" /> Rehana struggles with understanding passionate [[nationalism]] of her children and finding her own personal identity outside of being a mother and where her sense of nationalism fits into that identity. The book ends [[Pakistani Instrument of Surrender|16 December 1971]], the day that the treaty is signed and Bangladesh gained their independence.<ref name=":8" />

== Main characters ==

* ''Rehana Haque'': Main character; Widow and mother. She grew up in [[Calcutta]], India in poverty after her father, an Indian aristocratic lost their fortune from bad luck and worse advice. She moves to East Pakistan after the marriage to Iqbal Haque. Her native tongue is Urdu.<ref name=":8" />
* ''Sohail'': Rehana's son, university student, joins the [[Mukti Bahini]] as a guerilla fighter.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Maya'': Rehana's daughter, university student, moves to [[Kolkata]] to be a journalist for the freedom fighters.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Mrs. Chowdhury'': Rehana's friend and neighbor<ref name=":8" />
* ''Silvi'': Mrs. Chowdhury's daughter and a love interest of Sohail's<ref name=":8" />
* ''Sharmeen'': Maya's Friend who was captured by the Pakistan army and kept at the cantonment in Dhaka and [[Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War|raped]] repeatedly. She and her unborn child died in the hospital.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Iqbal Haque'': Rehana's dead husband
* ''The Major'': Guerrilla commander, injured in secret operation and brought to Rehana's house to be nursed back to health by Rehana and then becomes Rehana's love interest.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Sabeer'': Silvi's fiancé, Pakistan soldier turned freedom fighter for Bengali<ref name=":2" />
* ''Mr and Mrs. Sengupta'': Rehana's Hindu tenants at Shona<ref name=":2" />
* ''Mrs.Rahman and Mrs.Akram'': Rehana's neighbours and fellow 'sewing sisters'<ref name=":2" />
* ''Faiz Haque'' : Rehana's brother in law, Works with the Pakistan army.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Parveen Haque'' : Faiz's wife. She cannot have children so works to have Rehana seen as unfit after the death of Iqbal so that she have get custody of Sohail and Maya.<ref name=":2" />

== Background ==

=== Inspiration ===
The author [[Tahmima Anam]] was born in Bangladesh, but grew up traveling around the world due to the work of her father, [[Mahfuz Anam]], who is the editor of ''[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/nov/26/books.booksnews1|title=New fiction star taps Bangladeshi roots|last1=Thorpe|first1=Vanessa|date=26 November 2006|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-16|last2=Haider|first2=Mahtab|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

The author was inspired by her family's personal experience of their role in the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Bangladesh Independence war]]. She grew up listening to the stories of her grandmother harboring freedom fighters and hiding guns and weapons in the family garden.<ref name=":3" />

This led the author to be inspired to write about everyday citizens' war experience and small, but meaningful ways they can become revolutionaries.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18004188|title=At Home, at War: Tahmima Anam's 'Golden Age'|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-11-27|language=en}}</ref>

=== Historical context ===
[[File:Map_India_Bhopal.png|thumb|Map of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh]]
[[Bangladesh]] was known as [[East Pakistan]] before its fight for independence from [[Pakistan]] in the Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/22/fiction.features|title=Review: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam|last=Burton-Hill|first=Clemency|date=21 April 2007|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-16|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

East Pakistan was formed when [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British rule ended in India]] and Pakistan was formed in 1947.<ref name=":4" /> The territories were situated on either side of [[India]] as the book phrases "a pair of horns" on either side of India.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":2" /> This large separation between the two territories led to East Pakistan to be treated like a colony.<ref name=":6">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/22/fiction.features|title=And ne'er the twain shall meet|last=Burton-Hill|first=Clemency|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2015-07-22}}</ref> The West controlled the political majority and economic distribution of both territories.<ref name=":6" /> There were also major cultural differences between the two territories. Pakistan mainly practiced [[Islam]] and spoke [[Urdu]]. Whereas East Pakistan had both Muslim and Hindu populations and spoke mainly Bengali.<ref name=":6" /> The inequality, neglect, and differences led to the unrest in East Pakistan. The call for independence from [[West Pakistan]] led to the Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/125732/11/11%20chapter%205.pdf|title=Discourse of Discontent: A Study of Select Works of Tahmina Anam, Taslima Nasrin and Manjushree Thapa|website=shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in|access-date=2018-12-16}}</ref>

The mounting Bengali nationalist movement led to the Pakistan army to carry out [[Operation Searchlight]]. This military operation targeted Bengali intellectuals, academics including university students, and Hindus. They were captured, tortured, and/or killed.<ref name=":4" /> This led to the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide]] that caused millions of refugees to flee to India and the deaths of 58,000 to 3,000,000 civilians. The exact number of deaths is still unknown.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" />

The book features the attacks on the city of [[Dhaka]] during [[Operation Searchlight]]. Rehana's children escape the attacks on [[Dhaka University]] due to an engagement party for Silvi.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":2" />

The next day 26 March 1971 the [[Mukti Bahini]] called for independence from Pakistan and establishment of the new country of Bangladesh.<ref name=":4" /> The civil war began in full force.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" />

Though the Indian military was already pumping the Bengalis against West Pakistan, the Bengali efforts bore fruit when the [[Indian Army]] intervened in December 1971 on the side of the Bengali, Pakistan gave Independence to East Pakistan on 16 December 1971, and thus Bangladesh came into being.<ref name=":7" />

== Themes ==

=== Motherhood ===
Rehana's whole adult life has centered around her children. As a young widow she fights to regain custody of her children after losing them to her late husband's brother and wife. As her children get older Rehana struggles to relate to them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thestorygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/golden-age-by-tahmima-anam.html|title=The Story Girl: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam|date=29 August 2011|website=The Story Girl|access-date=2018-12-17}}</ref> The struggle to relate intensifies as the tension in East Pakistan increased and then the war starts and their passion for Bengali leads to their involvement and support for the war. Rehana then must struggle to keep her children safe. She would do and sacrifice anything for her children and does by the end of the book. This affliction leads Rehana to struggle with finding her own identity outside of motherhood.<ref name=":8" />

=== Nationalism ===
Growing up with two parents that had been involved with the Bangladesh Liberation War, [[patriotism]] was important to Anam's family. This theme is reflected in the book.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/tahmima-anam-trilogy-of-life-after-war-in-bangladesh|title=A Daughter of Bangladesh Revolutionaries Makes Sense of Life After War|last1=Lalwani|first1=Nikita|last2=Winter-Levy|date=20 October 2016|magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>

Throughout the book Rehana struggles with her feelings toward Bangladesh.<ref name=":6" /> Rehana grew up in Calcutta and then left to west Pakistan after her marriage and her native tongue became Urdu, Rehana does not feel the same sense of [[nationalism]] as her children.<ref name=":8" />

Sohail and Maya were born in Dhaka and their native tongue is Bengali and have an easy loyalty to Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://middlestage.blogspot.com/2007/05/on-tahmima-anams-golden-age.html|title=The Middle Stage: On Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age|last=Chandrahas|date=5 May 2007|website=The Middle Stage|access-date=2018-12-17}}</ref> She must search within herself if she believes in the war and finding independence for Bangladesh.<ref name=":8" /> Rehana finds her nationalism within her own experiences and those she loves that have brought the idea of the nation of Bangladesh to hold significance for her.<ref name=":8" />

=== Women's experience in war ===
Rehana's story shows the often forgotten experience of women in war. Rehana must bear the deepest part of her soul to save her children. This includes giving up the man she grows to love to save her son and herself. This story reveals that while a women's role in war is different, they too do not come out untouched.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" />

== Publication ==
The book was originally published in the United Kingdom by [[Canongate Books]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/tahmima-anam|title=Tahmima Anam - Literature|website=literature.britishcouncil.org|access-date=2018-12-14}}</ref> and then later published in the United States by [[HarperCollins]].<ref name=":2" /> Its original release date was 8 January 2007,<ref name=":0" /> and it has been translated into 22 languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.writersvoice.net/2011/09/tahmima-anam/|title=Tahmima Anam: The Good Muslim & A Golden Age|last=Rheannon|first=Francesca|date=21 September 2011|website=Writer's Voice|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-17}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
[[Clemency Burton-Hill]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' described the book as a "stunning debut";<ref name=":6" /> David Robson from ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' described its beginning as the struggle of a new author, but the story turns "into a real page-turner, with a bravura, heart-stopping ending";<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3664150/A-domestic-drama-set-during-a-civil-war.html|title=A domestic drama set during a civil war|date=2007-03-31|access-date=2018-12-16|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> and Theo Chapman from ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' called the book a "thought-provoking work and a rewarding read".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/love-conquers-against-a-background-of-war-20120721-22gba.html|title=Love conquers against a background of war|last=Chapman|first=Theo|date=21 July 2012|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=2018-12-17}}</ref>

The book has, however, received some criticism for having factual inaccuracies.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/books/review/Gorra-t.html|title=Birth of a Nation|last=Gorra|first=Michael|date=27 January 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-16|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This includes citing the 1963 film ''[[Cleopatra (1963 film)|Cleopatra]]'' before it was released which left some critics questioning some of the liberties that Anam took with the fictional characters and telling of the story.<ref name=":5" />

== Awards ==
*Winner of the [[Commonwealth Writer's Prize|Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] Best First Book (2008)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://canongate.co.uk/books/1273-a-golden-age/|title=A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam - Canongate Books|website=canongate.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-12-14}}</ref>
*Shortlisted for Costa First Novel Award (2007)<ref name=":1" />
*Shortlisted for [[The Guardian]] First Book Award (2007)<ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
*''[[The Bones of Grace]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
<references group=""></references>

== External links ==
* {{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/A-widow-s-window-into-war-3298575.php|title=A Widow's Window into War|last=Villanueva|first=Marianne|date=13 January 2008|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}
* {{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013102661.html|title=The Reluctant Revolutionary|last=Smith|first=Wendy|date=3 February 2008|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Age, A}}
[[Category:2007 debut novels]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Liberation War fiction]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi books]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in 1971]]
[[Category:Historical novels]]
[[Category:John Murray (publishing house) books]]
[[Category:Novels set in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:War novels]]

A Golden Age - Revision history

AhmadFosbery49 at 17:07, 5 February 2026