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Title details for The Storm by Arif Anwar - Wait list

The Storm

A Novel

by Arif Anwar
Vikas Adam
Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
From an immensely talented new voice in international fiction, this "fascinating, ambitious" (The New York Times Book Review) and epic novel seamlessly interweaves five love stories that, together, chronicle sixty years of Bangladeshi history—for fans of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance.
Shahryar, a recent PhD graduate and father of nine-year-old Anna, must leave the United States when his visa expires. In their last remaining weeks together, we learn Shahryar's history, in a vil­lage on the Bay of Bengal, where a poor fisherman and his wife are preparing to face a storm of historic proportions. That story intersects with those of a Japanese pilot, a British doctor stationed in Burma during World War II, and a privileged couple in Calcutta who leaves everything behind to move to East Pakistan following the Partition of India. Inspired by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, in which half a million-people perished overnight, the structure of this riveting novel mimics the storm itself. Building to a series of revelatory and moving climaxes, it shows the many ways in which families love, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another.

At once grounded in history and fantastically imaginative, The Storm "moves us deftly through time and across borders, beautifully illustrating the strange intersections we call fate, and reminding us how the past shapes the present" (Rumaan Alam, author of Rich and Pretty). Exploring the human­ity that connects us beyond the surface differences of race, religion, and nationality, "this powerful and important debut is a story for our time" (Library Journal, starred review).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 15, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781508257585
      • File size: 284038 KB
      • Duration: 09:51:44

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrators Vikas Adam and Soneela Nankani work together to depict the lives of several families over a fifty-year span on the Indian subcontinent. Nankani tackles the interior lives of the female characters, while Adam uses his deep baritone to portray the men. They toggle between Bangladesh in the 1950s and modern America, giving the listener a sense of the breadth of people's experiences at significant moments in history. The story begins with Jamir and Honufa, a couple struggling make ends meet in a fishing village on the coast of Bangladesh. From there the story spins outward to WWII, involving British and Japanese characters, and follows with the creation of Pakistan as experienced by Rahim and Zahira. Happily, this ambitious novel is safely in the hands of seasoned narrators. M.R. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 11, 2018
      Anwar’s excellent debut braids together brief moments of sacrifice and love in the lives of many characters across decades in South Asia and Washington D.C. The novel opens in November 1970 Chittagong, East Pakistan, as mother and wife Honufa awakes to find her husband gone to work and a massive storm coming: “Iron-gray clouds are moving toward the shore on legs of lightning.” After sending her son off to safety with her friend, Rina, Honufa’s next choices may determine whether she will ever be reunited with her husband and son. In August 2004 D.C., Shahryar Choudhury must find work within three months or his visa will expire and he will be forced to return to Bangladesh, unsure whether he’ll ever see his daughter again. Chapters alternate between Shahryar’s dilemma and that facing what a first seem to be random characters in East Pakistan (which will become Bangladesh), India, and Burma. Anwar expertly threads together these vignettes with others about the lives of an English doctor, a Japanese pilot, a Muslim couple caught in a ransom plot, and residents of Chittagong. This first novel will touch and astound readers.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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