This was such addictive reading. I've finished it in a couple of days, and I'm just sorry it's finished. I absolutely loved the main character, Rehana. And what a choice she's left with at the end, and the thing that she gives up. Although it seems through her life she has always been making sacrifices for other people.

This is mostly set in the 70s in Bangladesh... well, East Pakistan at the time, as this takes us through civil war within East Pakistan, between the East and West, and the eventual independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Rehana is a widow of many years, living in Dhakar with her two children, Maya and Sohail, who are in their late teens and at university, and so very pro independence and getting involved in the resistance. Rehana is nearing forty and her days revolve around keeping her kids safe, keeping house and living peacefully with her neighbours. The war changes things, with people's value and trustworthiness being dependant on what language they speak and what religion they follow.

Through her children, Rehana is drawn into more of the war and the resistance, allowing arms and supplies to be hidden on her property, allowing a wounded Major to shelter on her property for several weeks whilst he recovers, and eventually travelling across to Calcutta to stay with her daughter and to see the refugee camps at Salt Lake. From the experiences and disappearances of other characters, they learn of the torture and attrocities of the war.

It sounds all war, war, war, which it is. But this isn't a heavy book as it's as much about the family and the relationships between the characters. It brings it all down to a much more human level, seeing how these massive upheavals affect ordinary folk leading ordinary lives.