Burnt Shadows

By Kamila Shamsie

_______________

'A formidable arching tale about loss and foreignness' - Financial Times

'Powerful, epic yet skilfully controlled … Shamsie's voice is clear and compelling, with a welcome sparseness' - Guardian

'Completely authentic, complex, and breath-stopping' - Emma Thompson
_______________

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE
BY THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

August 9th, 1945, Nagasaki. Hiroko Tanaka steps out onto her veranda, taking in the view of the terraced slopes leading up to the sky. She is twenty-one and on the verge of marrying Konrad Weiss. In a split second, the world turns whiteIn the numbing aftermath of a bomb that obliterates everything she has known, all that remains are the bird-shaped burns on her back, an indelible reminder of the world she has lost.

In search of new beginnings, Hiroko travels to Delhi to find Konrad's relatives and falls in love with their employee, Sajjad Ashraf. As the years unravel, new homes replace those left behind and old wars are seamlessly usurped by new conflicts. But the shadows of history – personal, political – are cast over the entwined worlds of different families as they are transported from Pakistan to New York, and in the novel's astonishing climax, to Afghanistan in the immediate wake of 9/11.
_______________

'Shamsie achieves the near impossibility of a truly intimate epic tale … I challenge anyone to put this book down lightly' - Shami Chakrabarti, Observer, Books of the Year

'A giant of novel … Beautifully realised' - Independent

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Apr 6, 2009
• ISBN: 9781408803981

Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie is the author of six novels including Home Fire which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017, shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel Award, the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards 2018, and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and won the London Hellenic Prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018. Three of her novels have received awards from Pakistan's Academy of Letters. Kamila Shamsie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelists in 2013; she was also awarded a South Bank Arts Award in 2018. She grew up in Karachi and now lives in London.

Reviews for Burnt Shadows

[librarycin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hiroko is in Nagasaki when a bomb hits during WWII. Her finacee is killed, and she leaves Japan a couple of years later to go to India, where his sister lives. Hiroko moves in with Elizabeth and her husband James, and falls in love with one of their employees. Fast-forward 35 years and Hiroko and her husband have a teenage son, Raza, who manages to get involved in something a little over his head.The fast forwarding of time didn't bother me (there was an additional 10 year forward after the 35 year one), but for me, the book started off really slowly. I got more interested in Hiroko falling in love in India. But, there were still dry spots where I did lose interest again. Parts of Raza's story were interesting for me, but other parts weren't. This book varied for me, with me tuning out some parts that didn't catch my interest and other parts that did draw me in. Overall, I'd consider this one merely o.k.

[bodachliath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quietly devastating exploration of the human costs of war. Ranging from Nagasaki in 1945 via pre-partition Delhi and Karachi through to New York and Afganistan in 2002, the story interweaves tales of conflict and moral choices and ambivalences with an intensely moving family story. Beautifully written and thought provoking - Shamsie is a talented story teller with plenty to say about the modern world.

[sianpr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful and engrossing story centring on Hiroki - a Japanese woman who survives the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Everything flows from the bomb- tragic, heart warming and wonderful writing.

[labfs39 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hiroko Tanaka is a young woman in love with a German dreamer who longs for a world where nationality ceases to define identity. Unfortunately, Hiroko will witness the devastating effects of nationalism over and over again throughout her life. From the the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 to the partition of India in 1947 to the proxy cold war fought in Afghanistan to the aftermath of the September 11th bombing in the US, Hiroko and her family struggle to survive in a world that is always being defined as us vs them. [Burnt Shadows] is beautifully written with a compelling storyline. The characters are almost always outsiders in some way, struggling to define who they are and where they belong. Misunderstandings and betrayals carry consequences that play out over decades and sometimes generations, but so too does familial loyalty and love. Highly recommended.

[Sabaoon Khattak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful it is, simply. I must say ; good job

[jkrnomad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved the images that flowed through this narrative. The twists and turns that the characters experience are moving and heart-breaking.

[peterwhitfield · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although this was a very well-written book with finely-observed characters, and excellent geopolitical insight, in the end I decided I didn't like it, and didn't enjoy it. The main character's life is a tale of repeated loss, and although that's ok and real life for many, ultimately there was no redemption or even much hope. So I wondered why the author was writing it. It's not for the enjoyment of the reader (at least not this one), and I was left wondering whether she was deeply unhappy in herself and wanted to share it, or just despairing. There is also quite a lot of anti-English or anti-US which is fair comment in the context of the novel, but I wondered if there was a bigger agenda too.
It's a shame really, because the writing was excellent and the characters and emotions were well observed.
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 5/5
Characterisation: 4/5
World: 4/5

[ananthalakshmi-16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unputdownable, largely because of the writing – which is poetic, descriptive, imaginative, refreshing. And before you know it, you are captivated by the story and its characters too. When someone first told me it was about a person’s life through the Nagasaki bombing to the 9/11 attacks, my initial thought was “Wow, the author must have struggled to stretch a story that far.” But that is not how I felt when I began to read the book. The story flows naturally, without bearing you down with too much history. The writing is still what made it a compelling read for me. Will soon be binge-reading all of Shamsie’s books!

[ellenmeeropol · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm reading this book again, for the third time. It's not perfect, but something about it keeps bringing me back (and, I'm going to be using excerpts in a writing workshop I'm teaching next month, so I have to review it.) It's powerful and compelling and occasionally brilliant.

[astrologerjenny · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an anti-war novel, and a really good one. It’s intelligent, gripping and heartfelt. It’s too gentle to be called an epic, but it has an epic’s scope.

The novel covers sixty years and three generations, in the lives of two interlocked multi-cultural families. It begins with the bomb in Nagasaki and ends with the tension and paranoia of the post-9/11 world. It’s about culture shock, assimilation, and losing one’s homeland. The characters are all great; I wanted to follow them around forever. The cities also live: Delhi, Karachi, New York.

My main quibble is that it ends at a point of crisis that left me blinking. I guess the author’s message is that nothing can be resolved in a world perpetually at war.

[kishields · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting at first, but a bit overwritten. As the story went on I felt it became less interesting, and a bit confused as it jumped through generations, locations, events and history. Too much of a point being made and the characters became less important and therefore less interesting. Overall, not as satisfying as I had hoped it would be. Perhaps the author needed to concentrate more on fewer characters and maybe political events and movements to focus interest and provide depth. Interesting ending, though.

[alisonb60 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have just re-read this book so that I can discuss it at my book club. I read it some time ago and loved it then but much to my surprise I got even more from it the second time. The detail of events and the wonderful portrayal of the various characters was re-awakened again and I enjoyed it again. This is the only book of Shamsie's that I have read so I look forward to getting to know the others, can't wait. As has been said by others though, I found the ending upsetting, such a shame.

[brenzi_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There's a mark on the wall from me throwing this book across the room when I read the last paragraph. Loved, loved the book! HATED, HATED, HATED the ending. Sweeping narrative, complex characterizations, and a finely detailed portrait of man's inhumanity to man and yet the author failed to come up with a more satisfying ending. I don't mean that the ending wasn't a likely result of everything that preceded it, it's just that I was looking for something, oh I don't know, maybe....happier?In this epic novel of love, loss and heartache, Shamsie has painted an achingly sad picture of war and its devastating effect on the lives that get in its way. From Nagasaki, to India, to 9/11, to Afghanistan Shamsie covers the years from 1945 until 2002. Hiroko Tanaka watches as her world crumbles with the explosion of the atomic bomb that would finally end WWII. She bravely picks up the pieces and moves on to India, Delhi in particular where she watches Partition unfold. And then, years later, she arrives in New York City right after 9/11 and watches as her son ends up in Afghanistan. Shamsie does an excellent job demonstrating how Hiroko was able to face the many challenges that presented themselves."She rubbed her thumb along the interlacings of the green cane chair. And this world , too, was ending. A year or two, no more...and then the British would go. It seemed the most extraordinary privilege---to have forewarning of a swerve in history, to prepare for how your life would curve around that bend. She had no idea what she planned to do beyond Delhi. Beyond next week. And why plan anyway? She had left such hubris behind. For the moment it was enough to be here, in the Burton garden, appreciative of a blanket of silence threaded with vibrant bird calls, knowing there was nothing here she couldn't leave without regret." (Page 60)Filled with symbolism, evocative and mesmerizing in its haunting beauty and written in poetic prose, I would highly recommend this novel but you might want to finish reading it outside where you can throw it across the yard`without doing much harm.

[booklove2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The beginning with the love story in Japan (and the writing style a bit) reminded me of David Mitchell's 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet' and sure enough, Mitchell is mentioned in the acknowledgements. Interesting. One section also reminded me of 'A Passage to India', though I have never read it, and a few pages later it is actually mentioned in this one. It also reminded me of The Kite Runner. As I knew there were so many tragedies as a centerpiece, I thought maybe Shamsie was trying to benefit by including them. But often the book took place right after or before those events, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing. Many places and cultures were included here. I loved the first 33 pages in Japan, but then the bomb falls. I would have liked if more of the book took place there. If it wasn't for the places and times mentioned in the chapter headings, I wouldn't have guessed anything that happened as the story went on. So maybe I would have liked to have less of a hint. But overall, I really like Shamsie's writing style (there are many memorable images here) and I'd love to read more.

[ceruleandaze_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This beautifully written book of life, love and, most of all, tragedy, tells the stories of two families intertwined by fate and choice, from the bombing of Nagasaki to post-9/11 New York. Sometimes heart-wrenching, other times delving into emotions you'd rather not explore yet want to know, the author's delicate and graceful writing style really brings out the emotive power of events both large and small. Her words are like colors on a canvas describing scenes and feelings, making it so easy to lose yourself in the story. The book explores the complexities and subtleties of life, relationships, and history -- taking viewpoints of well-known recent and current events probably not normally taken, which also gives the storyline a believability that makes it so intriguing to read. I wanted the story to continue, to know how all the remaining characters fared, and the paths they would take. But not all is told either, and that makes the story even more powerful. Originally written on Feb 02, 2010 at 12:42PM

[litaddictedbrit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not too many years ago, there was a child who cried at social injustice without understanding what she was crying at; then, there was an idealistic law student determined to become a human rights lawyer, unswervingly filling her head with international cases and conventions/statute/regulations and muddling through them all to find a way towards that ever-mocked 'world peace'. And yes, she is me...At some point I realised two things: one, it was unlikely I would ever make it in the ironically cut-throat world that is becoming an established human rights lawyer and; two, short of a windfall, I couldn't support myself through the hundreds of pro bono cases that would preceed the actually-getting-paid part (those who have their human rights violated obviously not usually being particularly wealthy...). So I still became a lawyer but I swerved off towards commercial (and I love it, so that isn't a sad ending!). One thing I will always remember from university, though, was a presentation but a British-American lawyer who represented British/American nationals who were being held in Guantanamo Bay and was one of the only legal personnel allowed in. His talk was fascinating in detail but the thing that struck me the most was the same way as that which struck me with Burnt Shadows. When an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, a huge number of people were killed. How do those that make the decisionson things like that rationalise it? What are the effects on those individuals that get caught up in political strife and war? The amount of people that were killed by that atomic bomb was huge (approximately 60-80,000) but compare it to the amount that were killed during World War II and, shockingly, it starts to look small. What I loved about Burnt Shadows, and what I loved about that British-American lawyer years ago, was the author's ability to look past the bigger picture and at the individuals whose lives are shaped by global events. Looking past the deaths of tens of thousands and focusing on "just" a couple is hard to do well, I think. It's too easy to miss the finer points of emotion in the grasping of massive tragedy - if my city was devastated in this way, would I stop to think about the effect on tens of thousands? Eventually yes, but right away? I think I'd be more likely to be caught up in my own grief about my own family/friends. It's selfish but it's real. Likewise Guantanamo Bay - looking past 9/11 and at the individual alleged terrorists is exceptionally difficult but Burnt Shadows looks at that issue, as did my revered lawyer. Can we look past the world-changing events and listen to an individual accused's story without skewing it with our own perceptions? I wouldn't dare ruin the book but this is indeed an epic story sweeping up these issues and presenting them through the plight of two families: the Burtons and the Ashraf-Tanakas. To communicate these harrowing themes, Shamsie uses prose that is so elegant it could be poetry. The story flows beautifully and the imagery for each country evokes a sense of time and atmosphere that I was constantly in awe of - I don't think I've ever read a book that so deftly switches between countries and era. The reader travels through Japan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and New York over the space of about 60-something years and each time the story "jumps", it re-establishes itself so quickly that you feel as though you've been with the characters the whole time. In some books, when we skip a period of say 30 years, it feels as though one story just cuts to another - I think it works so much better here because the characters are strong and their relationships so realistic that you pick up with them as you would a good friend you haven't seen in years but still love dearly.My personal favourite character is Hiroko - she survives the dropping of the second atomic bomb, partition in India and post-terrorist New York in the way I think most of us would like to imagine we would: yes, she has physical and emotional scars but she's resolute about survival; she experiences real emotions like rage and devastation but gradually picks herself back up and looks after those she loves. She's also a fantastic individualist and her integration into Pakistani culture is very moving in places. This is by no means an easy read but I respect Shamsie immensely for tackling the subject matter in such a humbling way. I went through everything with those characters and have spent the last couple of days mulling it over and remembering and appreciating something new each time I do. I could honestly go ramble on forever! I'd set up a book club just to force people to read this.Everyone I've spoken to even once in the last year, expect a copy for Christmas....Overall: I struggle to find the words to recommend this enough: it's heart-breaking; it's funny; it's political and historical; it's about love but most of all it's about the impact of those huge world-changing events on the "little person" and how you can survive so much more than you think if you just have the right attitude and something/one to hold on to. Read it, dwell on it and cry over it - you'll feel better when you have...

[kimholland_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So many historic markers-- Nagasaki, Post-colonial India, the birth of Pakistan, Americans in Afganistan, 9/11-- that are really interesting, but subjects that could each fill a novel. I liked the characters in Burnt Shadows, but they seemed secondary-- shadows to the events that consume them. I understand that this is a theme the author embraces, but I could understand more about a period of time if the focus had been sustained longer.

[greggchadwick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kamila Shamsie's novel "Burnt Shadows" uses a cinemascope vision to portray a Japanese woman's struggle to understand her life in a spinning world where historic forces seem to lead her and her family into an inevitable showdown with fate. Hiroko carries the memories and scars imprinted into her skin from the atomic blast in Nagasaki in 1945 from Japan to India to post-partition Pakistan. Her son Raza carries the memories into a politically charged New York where the events of September 11, 2001 still loom in our headlines. Shamsie deftly leads the reader through the haunted landscapes of the last sixty years and by distilling chilling historical events through the vision of one family her words shed light into the shadows of time. An important work that I highly recommend.

[tigsw · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book certainly had good moments and overall I enjoyed it very much. However, it was uneven. The first section of the book, the part based in Japan, was superb. The second and bigger part based in India was less good but still enjoyable. The third section in New York was fine. The better part of the book focused on the life long challenges an immigrant faces in their new homeland, particularly if their physical appearance is notably different. Wothwhile reading

[mariamreza · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always enjoyed Kamila's fast pace of narration and vivid, apt descriptions of my hometown, Karachi, but I don't always feel that I can relate her characters to Karachiites. 'Burnt Shadows' has some memorable characters though, particularly Hiroko Tanaka, and some of the questions it asks, such as how usually good, kind people can support war and collateral damage, will always remain very relevant.Aside, I remeber Kamila's sister telling me a few years back (before 'Broken Verses' had been published) that Kamila was doing researching phlox for her next book. Phlox are only mentioned twice in 'Burnt Shadows', and that too as only part of a list of subcontinent flowers. I can only imagine then how much research must have gone into a book that covers the bombing of Nagasaki, Partition of the Subcontinent, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 9/11 and Guantanamo. Ambitious yes, but to Kamila's credit she does justice to her story.

[blakefraina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think it's important to note that the main characters in Kamila Shamsie’s brilliant novel, Burnt Shadows, are Japanese, German and Pakistani Muslims. This is a book that deals with the political tensions between different nations, nationalities and ethnic groups, and within that context Shamsie succeeds in putting a human face on the US's three bitterest enemies of the past sixty years. It is an epic novel that spans all of those years - covering three generations and as many continents. And, a typical hazard of epic fiction, just when I found myself getting attached to one group of people and becoming invested in their storyline, the author moves on. She is particularly skilled at creating memorable and sympathetic characters. I especially loved Hiroko, the Japanese woman who loses her German fiance in the bombing of Nagasaki, and thereafter moves to India to live with his sister (who has nearly disavowed her German identity) and her British husband. Hiroko is the personification of "ground zero," as she moves from her decimated home city after the bombing, to Delhi just before the acrimonious partition between India and Pakistan and, as a widow, to New York City in the years leading up to September 11. She is a most unusual and spirited creation and I was saddened when the author eventually moved her to the margins.All the other characters, while not quite as impressive as Hiroko, are unique and believable. Even to the very end, when some very destructive choices are made, I was hard-pressed to lay blame. Shamsie demonstrates that we are all products of the times we live in and, since WWII, propaganda and fear-mongering have played a huge role in shaping society. Shamsie’s writing is concise and very readable. I found the pages flying by and what seemed to be, at the outset, a rather daunting read, went by very quickly. Burnt Shadows demonstrates how circumstances, both personal and global, are often the result of a chain of events that, once set into motion, are all but impossible to stop. And by winning our empathy for her characters, she proves that, underneath it all, we are all much more alike than different.

[robindawson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An ambitious and sweeping novel that tackles some serious contemporary issues. In the main it succeeds, but as the final chapters moved away from the central charcater, Hiroko, I found my engagement diminished and a touch of confusion emerged. This book reminded me a little of 'Bel Canto' with its diversity of nationalities and a central character who is Japanese.

[dsc73277 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stunning. Kamila Shamsie has crammed a novel of great scope, beauty and significance into less than four hundred pages.I'm surprised that several reviewers have suggested that the start was the least impressive part, whilst I liked the whole book it was the opening section, set in Nagasaki on the day the atom bomb was dropped, that I found most breathtaking. She manages to create something beautiful out of a horrific event. I particularly liked the idea of hiding notebooks whose cosmopolitan content would not have been approved of by the Japanese authorities by attaching them to a tree:"He remains certain that no one will ever think to enter the deserted garden to search for treachery amidst the leaves. The people who would willingly sift through every particle of dust in a house for signs of anti-state activity can always be deceived by a simple act of imagination."

[cameling_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not for a long time have I read a book that plumbs the depth of human frailty, resilience, humility, generosity, kindness, loneliness, true friendship that knows no color, culture or language boundaries and love.This is a story about 2 families and the effect the bombing of Nagasaki, the separation of India and Pakistan, the Afghan Soviet war, and 9/11 have on them through the decades.Starting innocently enough with Hiroko Tanaka, a translator and linguist in Japan having gotten engaged to Konrad Weiss, a German teacher, these 2 individuals see their lives brilliantly ahead of them despite the ominous growlings of WWII. The Nagasaki bomb drops and all is changed.Gently but not so that the horrors of the aftermath of the bomb are glossed over, Hiroko describes staccato scenes of the destruction while recovering from her own injuries (horrible scarring on her back where patches of her kimono have been seared into her skin)in hospital. She is now hibakusha - a term that carries with it all the stigma associated with being a survivor of the A-bomb in Japan.Moving to India, she learns Urdu, builds a bond with her dead fiance's sister, and begins a journey filled with great joy and love, but which is also challenged with pain, betrayal and loss. Her journey takes her to Turkey, Pakistan and America, throughout which she is forced to call upon the very resilience that allowed her to survive and live after that dreadful day in Nagasaki.Hiroko and her family present the sides to the story most often unheard. How do ordinary people who just want to live in peace and who have aspirational dreams find the strength to stay true to their values and continue to see the good in others, even those governments warn against?This is a book about outsiders looking in, trying to find their place in a community, and of trying to belong. This is a book about the the human spirit and optimism. This is a book about living for what is right and not hiding because its an easier way to live. This is a book about despair for ruling governments. This is a book about hope for the world because there are people who make a difference.This review does absolutely no justice whatsoever to the depth of this book, and for that I apologize. But it is a book I would encourage you to read because it will leave a mark on you.

[justjenniferreading · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story follows Hiroko through her life. The story starts in Japan during WWII and ends in 2002. We follow Hiroko as she loves, loses, and ages. While the events in history play second to the story there are many things that Hiroko deals with: the bombing in Nagasaki, the split of India and Pakistan, 9/11. The characters are well rounded, and as the story jumps from one to the other we really get a sense of who these people are and what emotions they are dealing with. I became connected to just about all of the characters. The story is well written, the descriptions were a bit much in some places, but the pictures that Shamsie is able to paint with words are breathtaking. Her use of reacurring themes makes the story really go full circle. Her ability to take monumental events in history and make them the basis of Hiroko's life, without making the story simply about the history is a feat. A good read. There were parts that read a little slow, but there weren't many and the story is compelling enough to pull you through them.

[littlebookworm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hiroko Tanaka, a young woman living in Nagasaki in World War II, has fallen in love with a German. They know their lives are constantly in danger, but somehow their love has blossomed regardless. On the same day that Konrad proposes, the Americans drop a bomb on Nagasaki. Hiroko’s life changes irrevocably, right down to her skin, on which the birds from her mother’s kimono have been etched in scars. A few years later, Hiroko finds herself at the home of Konrad’s sister in India, where new love awaits. Sweeping onwards through to Pakistan and later the United States, this multi-generational work encompasses the depths of the horror of war and the endurance of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable horror and tragedy.I’m not sure it’s possible to like this book, although I know I’ve said I do already. It is almost relentless in the danger and the pain it causes for its main characters, particularly Hiroko. In the beginning, it feels too long and it moves very slowly. While I appreciate the messages the book is trying to convey, it takes a great deal of concentration to get through and it might have benefited from a more concise plot. The writing is gorgeous, but doesn’t help matters, although it does feel as though we could live in the settings of the book. Each location feels different, as they should given where they are in the world. Hiroko moves from Nagasaki to India to Pakistan to New York City, all of which are beautifully drawn with Shamsie’s words.It’s the message that this book has left me with, however, which is certainly both anti-war and almost anti-nation. By taking a large time period, Shamsie can show that as human beings, we haven’t learned from our mistakes, and that war is truly horrible in a way that people who haven’t lived through it don’t properly understand. She also shows us what a lack of education about can do through Hiroko’s son, Raza. Hiroko tries to shield him from the atrocities of the atomic bomb by speaking little about her own experience, but that only means he doesn’t understand what he’s getting into when violence does encroach upon his life and only learns later the meaning and devastation of violence and loss. The mistakes are repeated later with another character, still ignorant of what war truly means. With these characters, it seems to me that the author is trying to express that people are people, by giving voices and faces to those who do cross country boundaries and who may otherwise be considered suspicious. Nationalism only impairs our ability to relate to others as we stereotype them into something Different. It’s unquestionable, in the end, that this book has given me a lot to think about.As such, I don’t know if I’d call Burnt Shadows an enjoyable book, but it is very deep. I felt that I was left with a lot on my mind and I had learned something about Pakistan in particular in the process (which I did enjoy, I like learning). So I’m undecided as to whether or not I can recommend it, and instead will leave you with just this review to decide for yourselves.

[quzy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a brilliant flash of light Hiroko Tanaka's world changed. That light was the atomic bomb dropped August 9th, 1945 in Nagasaki Japan, and it took away everything that Hiroko held dear- her fiance, her father, her home. At the same time, the bomb left it's mark- 3 black cranes burned into her back from the after shock of the bomb as she was wearing her beautiful silk kimono. The bomb also left it's mark deep within her soul...How does one make one's life worthy? In a world where wars are fought, and prejudices exist, Burnt Shadows follows the lives of a family that began in Japan, travels to India during the Partition of India and Pakistan, and finally to New York and Afghanistan after 9/11. It is a sweeping novel that spans a life time of disappointments, love, loss and sacrifice. Kamila Shamsie's prose is lyrical, and you feel part of the story as you travel Hiroko's life with her as a silent companion.The conclusion is a quiet reminder of the world we live in now...

[barbaretta_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An ambitious and complex novel that moves from World War II Japan, to India at the time of Partition, to Pakistan and then to post 9/11 New York. The transitions are managed primarily through one character, Hiroko but other superbly drawn characters enter and leave as the novels develops and moves to its haunting, and unexpected but somehow appropriate conclusion. Shamsie uses her characters with mastery and at different levels. At the personal level, they have their strengths and weaknesses, their own life stories and their relationships. At the next level, their situations provide insightful commentary on cultural dislocation and relocation and finally, and ultimately, they are illustrative of the raw human issues associated with each of the major world events around which the story line is focussed. It was an ambitious approach but Shamsie has made it work.This is a big book in every sense, a long journey over time, continents and cultures. It evokes a range of feelings that sit in a satisfying juxtaposition - lightness and darkness, stability and instability, happiness and sadness, hope and despair. The language is beautiful, the historical context is accurately portrayed and the characters are balanced and believable. This is an engaging and rewarding read – highly recommended.

[saratoga99 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Spanning seven decades, six countries, and four families, Burnt Shadows depicts a brilliant narrative that originates in Nagasaki in 1945. The poignant catastrophic apocalypse culminates in post 9/11 New York City.Hiroko Tanaka, a proficient translator and schoolteacher is teaching Japanese to Konrad Weiss, her German fiancé. Leaving, he turns, and waves good-bye. Within a heartbeat and an atomic bomb, their world no longer exists. The crane pattern embedded in her back from her kimono is Hiroko’s only memento. Eventually, Hiroko travels to Delhi to meet Konrad’s half-sister Elizabeth, and her pompous British husband, James Burton. Not her initial intent, nor James’ desire, Elizabeth insists Hiroko stay until she may find a suitable place to utilize her linguistic skills. There, she meets Satjad Ashraf, James Burton’s local Muslim employee. Burton manifests his superficial attestation of his munificence in their daily chess games. Sadly, Satjad believes that his employment will result in procuring a position as a lawyer. An unexpected rapport develops between Hiroko and Satjad, and she asks him to teach her the Urdu language. Much to the dismay of Elizabeth, ignoring the social proprieties of class, their relationship deepens. As she discovers more about Konrad from Hiroko, Elizabeth also develops a close friendship with her.With daily news reports of the Partition of India, the Burtons arrange their leave with the intention of inviting Hiroko (without Satjad), to join them. Despite protestations from his family, Satjad plans to leave with Hiroko. Aware of the dangers of a Muslim remaining in India, they travel to Pakistan. When he finally realizes he will not be able to return to India, his Dilli, this move creates a life-long sorrow for Satjad.Sporadic relationships among these families endure, and the plot scenarios shift from country to country: Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States, and Canada. Increasingly ominous events suggest disaster in the Middle East. Hiroko moves to New York City to live with Elizabeth. However, no safe place exists after 9/11. Trust and faith in fellow man no longer propel actions. Confusion and fear dominate decisions. These unforeseen variances affect relationships.The conclusion, though shocking, was preordained. Kamila Shamsie has created a provocative and memorable novel overflowing with richly endowed characters who struggle to live and to love amidst the compelling history this book encompasses.When I finished this book, I re-read the prologue and the poetry and realized I had come full circle.Extradordinary book; one of the best I have read this year.

[bermudaonion_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Hiroko Tanaka was 21, she was living in Nagasaki and engaged to be married to Konrad Weiss. Things were difficult for them, though, because it was 1945 and people were leery of Konrad because he was German. When the atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Hiroko’s life is changed forever – she lost the love of her life and she is emotionally and physically scarred for life.Hoping to forget the past and start all over, Hiroko immigrated to India a few years later. She stayed with Konrad’s half-sister and her family and meets and falls in love with Sajjad Ali Ashraf. Against impossible odds, Hiroko and Sajjad got married and made a life for themselves, through good times and bad.It is really hard to write a synopsis of Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie without giving too much of the story away. The book starts out slow, and although the pace really doesn’t pick up much, I found myself drawn to the book after a few chapters. Hiroko is such a strong female character and I really admired her ability to re-invent herself and her life when she needed to. She never told her son about her experiences in World War II because she wanted to protect him, but then he ended up getting caught up in some militant activity and she said, "I wish now I’d told Raza. Told everyone. Written it down and put a copy in every school, every library, every public meeting place. But you see, then I’d read the history books. Truman, Churchill, Stalin, the Emperor. My stories seemed so small, so tiny a fragment in the big picture."Passages like that really made me reflect on the past and the importance of remembering and learning from mistakes. It also reminded me that every person’s story is important.I also learned a lot from Burnt Shadows. I’m kind of embarrassed to say I knew next to nothing about Pakistan and how it was formed and why there’s so much unrest in the area.Burnt Shadows is really the story of two families whose lives are intertwined through the years and in five different countries and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about their triumphs and tragedies. My thoughts are inadequate to describe how much is in this book and the beauty of its words.