A Golden Age

A poem I made based on @headspace-hotel wiki poetry for the historical fiction "A Golden Age" by Tahmima Anam.

The book explores a lot of topics and handles alot of really heavy themes. War, motherhood, love, sacrifice. A really huge one though is a woman's place in war and motherhood during war. This is a list of academic papers that analyze the same topic. Enjoy!

Works Cited

Halim Chowdhury, Elora. “War, Healing, and Trauma: Reading the Feminine Aesthetics and Politics in Rubaiyat Hossain’s Meherjaan.” Feminist Formations, vol. 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 27-45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26776835?seq=1. Accessed 17 November 2025.

Kapur, Deepali. “Women and War: A Critical Study of Violence on Women in Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age.” Dialog, no. 33, 2018, pp. 1-11. Docslib, https://docslib.org/doc/12968585/women-and-war-a-critical-study-of-violence-on-women-in-tahmima-anam-s-a-golden-age-deepali-kapur. Accessed 17 November 2025.

Khan, Samimuddin. “Contribution of Women in the Formation of Bangladesh: A Critical Appraisal on Tahmima Anam’s novels A Golden Age and The Good Muslim.” Akademos, vol. II, no. 1, 2022, pp. 93-100. Google Scholar, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://journal.skbu.ac.in/published/paper_full_text/149041649687605.pdf?v=1650883120. Accessed 4 December 2025.

Lauret-Taft, Sabine. ““You’re Just a Housewife. What on Earth Could You Possibly Do?”: The History of the Bangladesh War of Independence Told by Women in Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age.” Commonwealth Essays and Studies, vol. 43.1, 2020, pp. 1-14. Open Edition Journals, https://journals.openedition.org/ces/4107. Accessed 4 December 2025.

A Golden Age debuted in March of 2007. The book is translated into 22 languages, but it was published in English by Canongate books in the UK and again in the U.S by Harper Collins. It seemed to be received in two ways based on where the book itself was read. In the West, according to multiple publications, the book is poignant and well-written. The characters are deep, and the scenes are vivid. In many western book reviews, Anam is praised for "perfectly observed visual details [used] to portray a dying city." and her unflinching portrayal of the brutalities and atrocities of war. They also harp on the theme of love that ties the book together. It won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best first book in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Guardian first book award. It ironically appeared in the "Big Jubilee Read" List in 2022 to celebrate the platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, even though it is about a war of independence.

On the other side of the world, she is called an outsider and lambasted for her inaccuracies. Although I did not have access to publications from Bangladesh in 2008, Goodreads has users from across the world. Bengali people had a lot to say about the inaccuracies of the book. From the food prepared, to the media cited (specifically the mentioning of Cleopatra, which came out in 1963, not in the 50s), to the cultural norms at the time. One critic in 2018 wrote, "Tahmima Anam might have Bangladeshi ancestry, but she wrote like a non-native. Throwing in some bengali words like 'roshogolla' will not turn a novel into a cultural fiction - for that a certain soul is required." (Goodreads) Then, they went on to list the inaccuracies:

"Lastly, the story itself did not seem well researched. The abundance of good food during the war. Rehana's endless amount of money to cook feasts every other day (no income source mentioned). And lastly and maybe most hilarious, the ease with which the Mukti Bahini went around in trucks to carry arms for their guerilla missions against Pakistan. Those days it was impossible to move around individually, curfew or not. Moving around with a truck full of soldiers and weapons is just fantasy." (Goodreads)

Reviews from other Bengalis are similarly brutal. Many also focus on the worldview being too narrow due to the main character's role as a housewife and mother. Others comment on the lack of visceral violence in the book, and that most of the military movement in the main character's homes would have been noticed much sooner than the book stated. It should be noted that the character Rehana Haque is based on Tahmima Anam’s grandmother (YouTube). This is a woman who did, in fact, hide ammunitions and rebels inside of her home. The climax of the novel, where Rehana convinces the army that her son is not in the home, is also based on a true story. Although the part where the major takes the place of her son is clearly played for drama. (It should also be noted that in war, it does not matter if the real culprit is caught, only that there is a body to blame.)

The last piece of criticism that should be examined more closely is the seemingly unrelated title of the book "A Golden Age". Anam very clearly explained the three reasons she titled the book in an interview at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 2013.

The national song of Bangladesh translates to "Our Golden Bengali", in reference to the golden shade of a rice paddy that is beginning to ripen.

Rehana loses her children in a custody battle with her brother-in-law, and to get them back, she builds a house called "Shona". Shona translates to Gold, as it is a golden opportunity to get her children back.

The book takes place at the start of the nation, the author thinks of these times as Golden: filled with great hope and possibility. (YouTube)

While many noted that the book was not historically accurate in some regards, it was generally agreed upon that it is masterfully and descriptively written and is a good debut book for a new author.

Alternate Covers:

Links to stuff

Anam, Tahmima. A Golden Age - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Golden_Age. Accessed 8 December 2025.

Burton-Hill, Clemency. “And ne'er the twain shall meet.” The Guardian, 21 April 2007, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/22/fiction.features. Accessed 8 December 2025.

Gorra, Michael. “A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam - Books - Review.” The New York Times, 27 January 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/books/review/Gorra-t.html. Accessed 8 December 2025.

Smith, Wendy. “The Reluctant Revolutionary.” Washington Post, 3 February 2008, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013102661.html. Accessed 8 December 2025.

Villanueva, Marianne. “A widow's window into war.” SFGATE, 13 January 2013, https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/a-widow-s-window-into-war-3298575.php. Accessed 08 December 2025.

Pre-War Factors

Following the British Empire's involvement with and splitting of the region, we see the strange choice of land borders left behind in their wake. Borders which adversely affected the relationship between the then known as West and East Pakistan. Two halves of the same nation, separated by a thousand miles. With a distance that wide, it's not unexpected to know that the two had many differences from cultural to linguistic. The pre-liberation war socio-economic state was disproportionately favoring the western half of the nation. The west, which spoke Urdu, dominated the central government in number and say. Leaving the Bengali-speaking east starved of representation. Representation which they felt was severely lacking due to the void of their own in power. The systematic draining of resources from the East to the West was potentially exacerbated by this lack of representation, creating even more of a divide between the two. The Awami League (Awami meaning people in Urdu) attempted to lobby for the demands of the East's people for political and economic autonomy from the west. The fact of Eastern Pakistan having a larger population when compared to the Western counterpart seemed to justify this belief. Bengali effectively became marginalized by the West, and in government spaces. 1948's enforcement of Urdu as the primary language reinforced the sentiment and backlash. Directly resulting in the creation of the Bengali Language Movement, which influenced the war.

During War Time

The initial spark of the war occurred in 1970, when the Awami League had won the majority of seats for the East's governmental positions. 160 of 162 seats to be exact. This gave them the right to establish autonomy from the West. The West refused to acknowledge this once again, slighting the East's attempts, which led to widespread outrage and protests. The official start to the war was March 26th, 1971.

Operation Searchlight

Known as a major event during the war, it consisted of focused mass genocide, assassinations, various war crimes, including rapes against the Bengali population and intellectuals. It is estimated that 300,000 to 3 million people were killed. Although that does not account for deaths by other factors like malnutrition or disease that were exacerbated by the wartime conditions of the region.

This event was considered successful by the outcome guidelines it targeted.

Post War

December 16, 1971, marked the end of the war. The birth of Bangladesh was officially recognized in 1972 by other nations. Still, once the conflict was over, Pakistan refused to be accountable for the many war crimes committed.

Approximately 10 million Bengali refugees fled to India during the war, with most of them returning after the fighting had concluded.

1971 Liberation War, Birth of Bangladesh and Comparison With ... 31 Dec. 1996, https://www.efsas.org/publications/research-dossiers/1971-liberation-war,-birth-of-bangladesh-and-comparison-with-present-day-pakistan/.

Contributors to Wikimedia projects. Bangladesh Liberation War - Wikipedia. 21 May 2004, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War.

Contributors to Wikimedia projects. Operation Searchlight - Wikipedia. 30 May 2005, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Searchlight.

Bangladesh Liberation War | Background, Participants, Conflict ... 20 Nov. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Bangladesh-Liberation-War.

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The Genocide the U.S. Can’t Remember, but Bangladesh Can’t Forget.” Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Dec. 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/genocide-us-cant-remember-bangladesh-cant-forget-180961490/.

Ramna: (red star)

Main campus for the University of Dhaka

Approximate location of University with modern day Dhaka

Location of the race track where the formal declaration of independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan was made

Approximate location of track with modern day Dhaka

Shahbagh: (yellow star)

Cultural institutions including major roads and entrances into the university

Approximate location with modern day Dhaka

New Market: (blue star)

Major shopping hub and location where Rehana began to realize war was among everyone and has infiltrated daily life

Approximate location of market with modern day Dhaka

Sources:

Canva

Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. “India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.” Teara.govt.nz, teara.govt.nz/en/map/1819/india-pakistan-and-bangladesh.

ScribbleMaps.com. “Dhaka City.” Scribblemaps.com, Scribble Maps, 2024, www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Dhaka-city/Dhaka.

Tahmima Anam, author of A Golden Age, was born in Dhaka Bangladesh but grew up in Paris, New York, and Bangkok. She earned her PhD in anthropology at Harvard and got her Masters of Arts in creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her mother and father were freedom fighters in the Bangladesh Liberation War and her grandmother provided food and shelter for the young fighters. She drew from their experiences when it came to writing A Golden Age, including when the Pakistani army came looking for her mother's brother, she states, “My first novel, The Golden Age, was really a journey for me into claiming a piece of my history that I felt was unattainable to me because I had been raised outside of that culture. I was trying to reclaim my identity" (hyphen 2022). She was an op-ed columnist for the New York Times and Guardian. She 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 published A Golden Age in 2007 followed by the sequel The Good Muslim in 2011. Her other publications include The Bones of Grace and The Startup Wife.

Sources:

Tahmima Anam | the Booker prizes. (n.d.). https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/judges/tahmima-anam 

“At Home, at War: Tahmima Anam’s “Golden Age.”” NPR.org, www.npr.org/2008/01/11/18004188/at-home-at-war-tahmima-anams-golden-age.

“Shelf Awareness for Readers for Tuesday, July 13, 2021.” Shelf-Awareness.com, 2021, www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=1038#m18127. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.

“Tahmima Anam.” Simon & Schuster, 2025, www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Tahmima-Anam/173010448. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.

Keating, Fiona. “Tahmima Anam Q&A: “My Words and Art Represent a Diverse Experience of Islam.”” Hyphen, 6 June 2022, hyphenonline.com/2022/06/07/qa-with-tahmima-anam-my-words-and-art-represent-a-diverse-experience-of-islam/.

BookBrowse. “Tahmima Anam Author Interview.” BookBrowse.com, 2025, www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/1518/tahmima-anam. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.

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During chaotic times, especially wartime, there are always voices to be heard. Though there are those voices that are silenced either by their own will or by someone other, like the victor. In some cases, society pushes those voices beneath the surface due to painful memories and reminders they would rather forget than address.

There are always stories that are recorded but forgotten, words never heard—the book tries to give the voice of a mother during that time. Though It feels less authentic due to the lack of voices of the others in that period.

This composite image represents the faded-out voices of the people who were either silenced or refused to speak up. The many men and women whom the book does not speak for. Those who were hungry when the book speaks of good food.

Those who were abused, when the book dances around the violence.

Those who were, but were not in the eyes of history.

One of the said cases, which were buried, are the voices of the women who were abducted during the war and sent to endure horrific conditions and abuse. Post war, these women were abandoned by society, even by some, their own families. If you would like to hear their voice, read here: