The Good Muslim
Published on 6. May 2011
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-84767-973-4 (ISBN)
Description
One of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.
After years away from her family, Maya Haque is on the journey home to Dhaka. But what if, as Maya discovers, everything you once knew has changed beyond recognition? What if you must re-learn what it means to be a good daughter? And how do you begin to understand a brother who has taken a path so different from your own? Maya faces these questions and many more in The Good Muslim, an extraordinary novel about faith, family and the long shadow of war.
After years away from her family, Maya Haque is on the journey home to Dhaka. But what if, as Maya discovers, everything you once knew has changed beyond recognition? What if you must re-learn what it means to be a good daughter? And how do you begin to understand a brother who has taken a path so different from your own? Maya faces these questions and many more in The Good Muslim, an extraordinary novel about faith, family and the long shadow of war.
Reviews / Votes
Exquisite . . . this work confirms Anam as one of our most important novelists * * Sunday Telegraph * * The narrative shimmers with poetry. Anam seems to be a novelist not so much luxuriating in the act of writing as in total control of it, using just the right words to create her stunning story * * Independent * * A lyrical, thought-provoking, powerful meditation on belief, love and loyalty * * Easy Living * * An exceptional and searching look at the horrors of war * * Metro * * Powerful and ambitious, The Good Muslim more than fulfils the promises of Tahmima Anam's celebrated debut, A Golden Age * * Guardian * * A fascinating, intense and complex book * * The Lady * * Provides some penetrating meditations on faith, war, linguistic and class hegemony, parenthood, sibling rivalry and love. One looks forward to the third volume of the trilogy. -- Claire Chambers * * Times Literary Supplement * * A major new talent * * Observer * * Impressive . . . Anam subtly handles the clash of opposing values to produce a powerful exploration of what it means to be radicalised as well as a moving depiction of the legacy of war. The Good Muslim more than confirms the promise apparent in her Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning debut * * Financial Times * * In this book of searing beauty, Tahmima Anam shows us a family searching for ways to navigate through the aftermath of war; in the process she takes us on an unforgettable journey through a young nation trying to define itself -- Kamila Shamsie, author of BURNT SHADOWS What a superb novel. Its delicacy and power and breadth -- the way its compassion and grief keep complicating its anger -- I read it with heart in mouth * * Helen Garner, author of THE SPARE ROOM * * Tahmima Anam's unflinching examination of the agonies of post-colonial nation-building sets the intimacy of personal life against a backdrop of national and religious conflict. Delicate, heart-wrenching and poetic, this is a novel of great poise and power -- Tash Aw, author of THE HARMONY SILK FACTORY and MAP OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD Tahmima Anam's startlingly accomplished and gripping novel describes not only the tumult of a great historical event... but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war -- Pankaj Mishra on A Golden Age Anam has done a service to her country ... No other writer has treated the subject with such clarity before, in English * * Times Literary Supplement on A Golden Age * * In this striking debut novel ... Anam deftly weaves the personal and the political, giving the terrors of war spare, powerful treatment * * The New Yorker on A Golden Age * * An assured, moving read * * The Times on A Golden Age * * 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 on A Golden Age * * 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 * * Guardian on A Golden Age * * This is storytelling at its best ... A beautiful story of hope, heroism and human survival amid cruelty. Everyone should read this and learn * * Daily Express on A Golden Age * * I couldn't tear myself away...the authenticity shines through Anam's beautiful, simple prose * * Harper's Bazaar on A Golden Age * * A real page-turner, with a bravura, heart-stopping ending * * Telegraph on A Golden Age * * A Bengali Suite Francaise -- Jonathan Freedland * * Newsnight Review on A Golden Age * * What happens to a heart ravaged by war? What happens to the strongest bonds of familial love when a son or a brother walks down a path that seems incomprehensible? In this book of searing beauty, Tahmima Anam shows us a family searching for ways to navigate through these questions; in the process she takes us on an unforgettable journey through a young nation trying to define itself -- Kamila Shamsie, author of BURNT SHADOWS An important novel * * Observer * * Powerful and ambitious, The Good Muslim more than fulfils the promises of Tahmima Anam's celebrated debut, A Golden Age . . . Leisurely, dense and varied in its stylistic register, this is a darker and more reflective novel. -- Aamer Hussein * * Guardian * * A fascinating, intense and complex book. * * The Lady * * Anam is one of a generation of writers with a subcontinental heritage whose themes are politicised and universal. The Good Muslim uses a specific history to identify issues that resonate in places and times far beyond post-independence Bangladesh, and it is this pertinence that makes The Good Muslim not just an interesting novel but an important one. -- Bidisha * * Observer * * Canongate is to be congratulated for bringing this novel to us. Good novels invite you to think and feel. This is just such a one. You live with the characters and they leave you with questions. -- Allan Massie * * Scotsman * * A lyrical, thought-provoking, powerful meditation on belief, love and loyalty. * * Easy Living * * Anam subtly handles the clash of opposing values to produce a powerful exploration of what it means to be radicalised as well as a moving depiction of the legacy of war. The Good Muslim more than confirms the promise apparent in her Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning debut A Golden Age. -- Adrian Turpin * * Financial Times * * ..a hugely readable story, packed with memorable set pieces and a full range of entirely believable characters -- James Walton * * Daily Mail * * Thought-provoking ... much to tell us about nationalism, the struggle for a sense of identity and the troubled country Bangladesh remains today. * * The Tablet * * Anam is clearly a writer for the future: someone with lots to say, and the ability, and time, to say it. That, too, ought to be something to celebrate. * * Eleutherophobia Blog * *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
534 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84767-973-4 (9781847679734)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was selected as a Granta Best of Young British Novelist 2013. Her first novel, A Golden Age, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Costa First Novel Award in 2007, and was the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Her second novel, The Good Muslim, was shortlisted for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was also longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2011. She lives in London.