“It was like that with her mother – memory upon memory stacked together like the feathers in a wild bird, there to keep her warm, or when she needed to, fly. She was the wings of her, the very wings.” — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“Before placing her in her mother's arms, she whispered, as she had at all the other births, hello, little amphibian. Someone had to acknowledge… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“She felt the urge to tell him more, to explain about the abortions she had done after the war, and that she hadn’t realised until later, much later, that she had racked up a debt she was still struggling to repay. How could he know – he was just a soldier, he had killed as a matter of principle, but… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share
“It was like that with her mother – memory upon memory stacked together like the feathers in a wild bird, there to keep her… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“So Rehana printed a few cards and sent them with boxes of sweets to everyone she knew. Orange-studded Laddus and curd-dusted Pranharas, the sweet… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“Her eyes adjusted to the new contours of the building. The decline was far worse than she had imagined. Here, grey streaks across its… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“Rehana regarded the saris and tried to recall the feeling they had given her, of being at once enveloped and set free, the tight… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“She didn’t think of the debt she was repaying, that each of the babies she brought into the world might someday be counted against… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“Sufia began to grind turmeric with a giant stone shaped like a rolling pin. She passed the stone back and forth over the turmeric… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“This war that has taken so many sons has spared mine. This age that has burned so many daughters has not burned mine. I… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
“Her hands on the harmonium were delicate, square-tipped, her bitten-down nails paying homage to the seriousness of the task; her brows were knitted together… — Tahmima Anam Copy Share Image
