The Bones of Grace: A Novel
By Tahmima Anam
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
From the award-winning, nationally bestselling author of A Golden Age and The Good Muslim comes a lyrical, deeply moving modern love story about belonging, migration, tragedy, survival, and the mysteries of origins.
On the eve of her departure to find the bones of the walking whale—the fossil that provides a missing link in our evolution—Zubaida Haque falls in love with Elijah Strong, a man she meets in a darkened concert hall in Boston. Their connection is immediate and intense, despite their differences: Elijah belongs to a prototypical American family; Zubaida is the adopted daughter of a wealthy Bangladeshi family in Dhaka. When a twist of fate sends her back to her hometown, the inevitable force of society compels her to take a very different path: she marries her childhood best friend and settles into a traditional Bangladeshi life.
While her family is pleased by her obedience, Zubaida seethes with discontent. Desperate to finally free herself from her familial constraints, she moves to Chittagong to work on a documentary film about the infamous beaches where ships are destroyed, and their remains salvaged by locals who depend on the goods for their survival. Among them is Anwar, a shipbreaker whose story holds a key that will unlock the mysteries of Zubaida’s past—and the possibilities of a new life. As she witnesses a ship being torn down to its bones, this woman torn between the social mores of her two homes—Bangladesh and America—will be forced to strip away the vestiges of her own life . . . and make a choice from which she can never turn back.
Tahmima Anam
Tahmima Anam is the recipient of a Commonwealth Writers Prize, an O. Henry Prize, and has been named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she was educated at Mount Holyoke College and Harvard University and now lives in London where she is on the board of ROLI, a music tech company founded by her husband.
Read more from Tahmima Anam
The Startup Wife: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Muslim: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Golden Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bones of Grace: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freeman's: Arrival: The Best New Writing on Arrival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Bones of Grace
Related ebooks
Margarita Wednesdays: Making a New Life by the Mexican Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America for Beginners: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Kitchen: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bertrand Court Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mirror Made of Rain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLike a Diamond in the Sky Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Before We Visit the Goddess: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trespassing: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Water: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between the Assassinations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Brick Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amnesty: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Woman Who Read Too Much: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Burnt Shadows: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Border Less Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of Arthur Truluv: A Novel by Elizabeth Berg | Conversation Starters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelection Day: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Parisian Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Even in Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Past: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Half Life: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Door between Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFasting, Feasting: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hungry Tide: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5At the End of the World, Turn Left Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sea of Poppies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Broken Verses: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Literary Fiction For You
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Handmaid's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Pulitzer Prize Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen's Gambit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anna Karenina: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tender Is the Flesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Bones of Grace
13 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was simply a beautiful read. Each sentence ebbs and flows in a lyrical nature and Anam executes her conversational narrative perfectly.
I felt privileged reading this book, Anam trusts her readers with Zubaida's innermost thoughts, and feelings. She is torn between love, culture, and class. We are taken on her journey of self-discovery – she is adopted and is struggling to find herself, and where she belongs. Zubaida is conflicted with her identity both in terms of being adopted and not having a biological history, but also with the identity of being someone's wife in Bangladesh culture.
My only criticism is when she switched between POV and time periods it was a little clunky for me, perhaps the finished copy will read a little smoother in this regard.
Thank you Tahmima Anam for your exquisite work.