Arif AnwarRelease Date:
Atria Books
ISBN 978-1501174506
May 2018
In this stunning debut novel, Arif Anwar weaves a complex threaded story that weaves mystery, difficult choices, and the fate of history into an epic story of three generations of Bangladeshi history. The book opens with Shahryar, a graduate student earning his Ph.D faces deportation as his visa is soon to expire leaving his daughter and ex-wife behind. He begins to ruminate on his childhood on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and begins to weave his woven fate with a historical storm and flood. This novel moves and shifts along historical moments and connections with the past and the future where honor, sacrifice, and betrayal fight history as it rushes forward. The stories include a British field physician, a Japanese pilot, and an upper-class couple caught in the midst of the Partition of India. All these characters make decisions based on making the life better for the next generation, the survivors, the future. It is a humbling vision of our personal histories - past, present, and future.
The threaded design of the novel makes for an intricate and intense reading experience. Anwar's narrative is focused and crafted to span across time and still hold tension and vision across more than sixty years. An amazing debut novel that tells a history that resonates with us all. This novel compares to The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Age of Shiva by Manil Suri, a personal favorite of mine. The Storm is a powerful international title that shines among the 2018 spring titles.
