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The Bones of Grace
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
5 posts | 4 read | 5 to read
Anwar told me that it wasn't until he almost died that he realised he needed to find the woman he had once loved. I've thought about that a lot in the last few years, that if Anwar hadn't worked on that building site, he might never have gone looking for Megna, and if only he hadn't done that, I might still be in the dark about my past. I've only ever been a hair away from being utterly alone in the world, Elijah, and it was Anwar who shone a light where once there was only darkness. On the eve of her departure from Boston to find the bones of the walking whalethe fossil that provides a missing link in our evolutionZubaida Haque falls in love with Elijah Strong, a man she meets in a darkened concert hall. The two immediately connect despite their differences: Elijah belongs to a prototypical American family, whereas Zubaida is the adopted daughter of a wealthy family in Dhaka. But when a twist of fate sends her back to her hometown, the inevitable force of society compels her to take a very different path, and before she knows it shes married to her childhood best friend and discontentedly settled into a traditional Bangladeshi life. In a final bid to escape familial constraints, she moves to Chittagong to help make a documentary film about the infamous shipbreaking beaches, where ships are destroyed and their various parts put up for sale. Here she meets Anwar, a shipbreaker whose story holds a key that unlocks for Zubaida not only the mysteries of her past but the possibilities of a new lifeand she will make a choice from which she can never turn back.
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review
rockpools
rockpools
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
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Pickpick

Zubaida‘s adoption has only ever been mentioned once. But as she leaves her palaeontology research in the US, and accepts the life/marriage she‘s been brought up into, it becomes more important. And then there‘s Elijah, the American she met briefly at a Shostokovich concert, an obsession or the love of her life?

This is a slow read - the pacing made it feel much longer than it is. The audio, read by Tania Rodrigues, however, was excellent-

rockpools Zubaida‘s long letter to Elijah made it feel like you‘re being told a story, and, despite the numerous tragic events, kept the tone relatively light. Zubaida - and the people around her - are flawed and messy and selfish and human. The story takes us from Cambridge, Mass. to the archaeology of Pakistan and the ship-breaking yards of #Bangladesh. Like Zubaida herself, there‘s lots to love here - but it‘s far from perfect. And the ending? Hmmm. 4y
rockpools I feel like I‘ve earned some challenge points with this. #ReadingAsia #Bangladesh #Booked2021 #HereHear (because audiobook with strong sense of place). @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft #FourFoursin2021 #Discovery (for Diana & the walking whale dig) @Lauredhel 4y
Lauredhel \o/ 4y
See All 7 Comments
TrishB Great review 👍🏻 4y
Cinfhen Props to you!!! Great review 4y
Librarybelle Woohoo for multiple challenges! 4y
alisiakae Great review! 4y
65 likes7 comments
blurb
rockpools
rockpools
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
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A huge part of this novel takes place on the ship-breaking beaches of Bangladesh, where a luxury cruise liner is being broken up. Meanwhile, in my little corner of the UK, we‘ve had seven furloughed ‘ghost liners‘ moored in the bay at times this week. Think this is a record!

They‘re big beasts though. The thought of them being broken up BY HAND is quite terrifying!

arlenefinnigan Ooh where's that? 4y
Oryx That's some sight 4y
Megabooks That‘s really cool! 4y
See All 7 Comments
Simona Looks beautiful! 4y
Texreader Wow. What a sight!! Thanks for sharing! 4y
rockpools @arlenefinnigan South Devon coast. At the moment there are 6 here, between Dawlish/Teignmouth and Babbacombe (including the Queen Mary 2 & the Queen Victoria) and another 4 just round the corner in Torbay itself. 4y
rockpools @Oryx @Megabooks @Simona @Texreader It‘s a little bizarre, isn‘t it? We‘ve had at least 3 or 4 sheltering here since last April. When it‘s stormy, they nip across to France for a couple of days, then come back and park up again. 4y
64 likes2 stack adds7 comments
blurb
rockpools
rockpools
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
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I started this because I needed an audiobook, and it‘ll meet a #ReadingAsia2021 country #Bangladesh. Went in with EXTREMELY low expectations, but I‘m loving it so far! For some reason this is confusing me!

And the main character‘s a palaeontologist researching the walking whales of Pakistan. Which always helps!

squirrelbrain Sounds intriguing! 4y
TrishB If you‘re doing #booked2021 Bangladesh also fulfils UN prompt 😁 4y
rockpools @squirrelbrain I think it might be a love story 😱 4y
See All 12 Comments
rockpools @TrishB oh! Thank you! I am and I hadn‘t realised that! 4y
squirrelbrain I was just coming on to post the same thing @TrishB - I checked my spreadsheet and that‘s one of the countries I had listed for the UN prompt too. 4y
TrishB @squirrelbrain 👍🏻 I went with the top one to try and decide on a book! (edited) 4y
TrishB @rockpools I love it when that happens 😁 4y
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain oh I must have a look at this for UN prompt 👍🏻👍🏻 @Trishb (edited) 4y
rockpools @squirrelbrain @TrishB You‘re both fabulously organised! The bumbling through method doesn‘t always work well for challenges 😂😂 4y
rockpools @Cathythoughts Yes, do! Although I‘m still going in expecting to dislike it, so who knows!! 4y
squirrelbrain I had a look for it @Cathythoughts but it‘s not on Libby or Scribd for me ☹️ I‘m going to try this one for Bangladesh, which is on Scribd.
[tagged book]The Ballad of Ayesha
4y
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain oh good thanks ! I‘ll have a look at that one too 👍🏻 4y
58 likes12 comments
review
GirlWellRead
GirlWellRead
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
Pickpick

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 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.

2 likes
review
AnnieSmith
AnnieSmith
The Bones of Grace | Tahmima Anam
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Pickpick

An affecting novel narrated by a woman who has messed up her life. The novel is framed by this woman's explanation to her lost love about why she did what she did. It also contains an atmospheric portrayl portrait of Bangladesh. Edelweiss ARC.

3 likes