Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, 2008.

Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, A Golden Age is a gripping novel of revolution, passion and unexpected heroism.

East Pakistan, 1971, a country on the brink of war and a family that is about to change for ever. Rehana Haque is throwing a party for her children in her rose-filled garden. Beyond the garden walls the city buzzes with excitement over recent elections. But no one could ever imagine what the coming days and months would bring - the fever, the hope, the faith and the heartbreaking choices that everyone must make, including Rehana.

The second book in this brilliant family saga, The Good Muslim, is available now. The final book in the trilogy, The Salt of the Earth, will be published in 2013.

Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her writing has been published in Granta, the New York Times and the Guardian. She is also a contributing editor to the New Statesman.

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'Anam's prose is glowing and graceful throughout; whether detailing the degradations of a refugee camp, the tenderness of an unexpected love affair, or the exhilarated dread of a nation in cataclysm.' Guardian

'Beautifully told, intimate and touching; Anam has a knack for making you care so desperately for her characters that you admire their failings as much as their strengths.' Daily Mail

'This is storytelling at its best...A beautiful story of hope, heroism and human survival amid cruelty. Everyone should read this and learn.' Daily Express

'I couldn't tear myself away...the authenticity shines through Anam's beautiful, simple prose.' Harper's Bazaar

'In this striking debut novel...Anam deftly weaves the personal and the political, giving the terrors of war spare, powerful treatment.' New Yorker

'A major new talent.' Observer