The Bones of Grace - Hardcover

Anam, Tahmima

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061478946 ISBN 13: 9780061478949

Publisher: Harper, 2016

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

"Reading THE BONES OF GRACE, Tahmima Anam's new novel, you'll be moved by the author's portrayal of hollowed-out characters pining for that which would make them whole again."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"For those lucky enough to now be discovering Anam for the first time, a priceless literary gift awaits..."--Christian Science Monitor

"Anam captures two very different cultures in an introspective character study that will mesmerize readers from the very first page."--Publishers Weekly

"An engrossing tale set in an unfamiliar landscape that is both a love story and a glimpse into the lives of people living and working in the most unfortunate circumstances."--Library Journal

"The Bones of Grace is beautifully written and carefully crafted, satisfyingly weaving together its twists and turns..."--India Today

"Love and estrangement, science and tradition, discovery and loss - with majesty, brilliant metaphor and unerring precision, Tahmima Anam explores the essential dichotomies of our present and past."--Manil Suri, author of THE DEATH OF VISHNU

"Fierce and intimate, lyrical and expansive, The Bones of Grace offers what a great novel does: symphonic movements, historical landscapes that shape our private landscapes of love and life, mysteries and enchantments, the unforgettable and the unforgotten. Tahmima Anam is a mesmerizer."--Yiyun Li, author of KINDER THAN SOLITUDE and THE VAGRANTS, PEN/Hemingway Award Winner

"Expansive yet intimate, weighty yet incisively funny, THE BONES OF GRACE is a powerful examination of what it means to live in a world of collapsing boundaries and conflicting values. Few people write about identity and culture with such elegance and intelligence as Tahmima Anam."--Tash Aw, author of Five Star Billionaire

"Anam's writing is most memorable when she deals in love and bones--the romance and the paleontological work she calls 'our little argument with time.'"--The New Yorker

"Beauty and pain thrive alongside one another in Anam's intricate tragedy of thwarted love and deep divides in social classes...compelling..."--Shelf Awareness

Book Description

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0061478946
• ISBN 13: 9780061478949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432