New Releases by Kamila Shamsie

Aliya may not have inherited her family''s patrician looks, but she is as much a prey to the legends of her family that stretch back to the days of Timur Lang. Aristocratic and eccentric-the clan has plenty of stories to tell, and secrets to hide. Like salt and saffron, which both flavor food but in slightly different ways, it is the small, subtle differences that cause the most trouble in Aliya''s family. The family problems and scandals caused by these minute differences echo the history of the sub-continent and the story of Partition. A superb storyteller, Kamila Shamsie writes with warmth and gusto. Through the many anecdotes about Pakistani family life, she hints at the larger tale of a divided nation. Spanning the subcontinent from the Muslim invasions to the Partition, this is a magical novel about the shapes stories can take- turning into myths, appearing in history books and entering into our lives.

9 August, 1945, Nagasaki: Hiroko Tanaka, twenty-one and in love with Konrad Weiss, the man she is about to marry, steps out onto her veranda, minutes before a nuclear explosion shatters her world and everything in it. Travelling to Delhi two years later in search of new beginnings, she meets Konrad''s half-sister, Elizabeth, her husband James Burton, and their employee Sajjad Ashraf. As the years unravel, the shadows of history - personal and political - are cast over the entwined worlds these people inhabit as they are transported from Pakistan to New York, and in the novel''s astonishing climax, to Afghanistan in the immediate wake of 9/11.

En 1945, à Nagasaki, le monde blanchit... Rescapée de l''apocalypse nucléaire, Hiroko porte à jamais dans sa chair les brûlures d''une vie détruite. De Karachi à New York, jusqu''à l''Afghanistan, dans un demi-siècle fiévreux et grave où s''affrontent sans relâche le bien et le mal, elle part en quête d''un recommencement. Et dresse, à travers les conflits, un hymne bouleversant à l''humanité.

Den unge japanske pige Hiroko, overlevende men mærket af Nagasakibomben, opsøger sin omkomne tyske kærestes søster Ilse og hendes familie i Delhi i 1947. Derefter oplever læseren gennem personerne nogle verdenshistoriske brændpunkter, afsluttet med tiden efter 9/11 i USA.

_______________ ''A richly woven novel ... The voice that guides us around this world darts with wit and lightness in a way that is unique and often lovely'' - Rana Dasgupta, Guardian ''The plot gallops along, ensuring a gripping read ... thought-provoking'' - Independent ''A highly accomplished novel ... A multi-layered but shrewdly simple tale'' - New Statesman, Books of the Year _______________ BY THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION Fourteen years ago Aasmaani''s mother Samina, a blazing beauty and fearless activist, walked out of her house and was never seen again. Aasmaani refuses to believe she is dead and still dreams of her glorious return. Now grown up and living in Karachi, Aasmaani receives what could be the longed-for proof that her mother is still alive. As she comes closer to the truth she is also irresistibly drawn to Ed, her ally and sparring partner, and the only person who can understand the profound hurt – and the profound love – that drives her. _______________ ''An elegant, challenging novel about love, loss and deception ... vibrant'' - Daily Mail ''Sparkling prose and formidable wit'' - Daily Telegraph

_______________ ''Full of fun, longing and wit ... a debut of spirit and imagination, loaded with intelligent charm'' - Ali Smith ''A touching and engrossing story ... an assured debut'' - The Times ''A colourful and peripatetic view of politics in Pakistan ... an interesting and promising novel'' - Guardian _______________ BY THE ACCLAIMED WINNER OF THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN LLEWELLYN RHYS PRIZE _______________ Hasan is eleven years old. He loves cricket, pomegranates, the night sky, his clever, vibrant artistic mother and his etymologically obsessed lawyer father, and he adores his next-door neighbour Zehra. One early summer morning, while lazing happily on the roof, Hasan watches a young boy flying a yellow kite fall to his death. Soon after, Hasan''s idyllic, sheltered family life is shattered when his beloved uncle Salman, a dissenting politician, is arrested and charged with treason... Set in a land ruled by an oppressive military regime, this eloquent, charming and quietly political novel vividly recreates the confusing world of a young boy on the edge of adulthood, and beautifully illustrates the transformative power of the imagination.

Quinta novela de la escritora pakistaní Kamila Shamsie, Sombras quemadas ha marcado un punto de inflexión en el conjunto de su obra. Tanto críticos como escritores han elogiado su prosa viva y su formidable visión de los acontecimientos históricos. A lo largo de seis décadas -desde Japón en los últimos días de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la India al borde de la partición, hasta Pakistán en ladécada de los ochenta, Nueva York tras el 11-S y Afganistán durante los bombardeos subsiguientes al atentado-, las historias comunes a dos familias convergen hacia un destino común.Y en el centro del relato, un personaje exquisitamente delineado: Hiroko Tanaka, una joven maestra empleada en una fábrica de munición en Nagasaki que aguarda con impaciencia el final de la contienda para casarse con el joven alemán Konrad Weiss. Una mañana de agosto de 1945, en apenas unos segundos, una cegadora explosión de luz y fuego destruye todo lo que ha conocido y amado. Como único recuerdo de su pasado, conservará el contorno de los pájaros de su kimono de seda quela radiación ha marcado en su espalda para siempre. Hiroko huirá muy lejos, y cuando el amor vuelva a surgir en su vida, deberá hacer frente a múltiples y dolorosos desafíos.El hilo del relato, tensado por el suspense, no sólo guía al lector a través de un esclarecedor recorrido por el siglo que acaba de terminar, sino que proporciona claves sobre el actual: sobre su lado oscuro, sin duda, pero también sobre los caminos que conducen a un espacio de esperanza.

Nagasaki, 9 d''agost del 1945: La Hiroko surt al balcó, des d''on veu les terrasses que s''eleven al cel. La jove té 21 anys i està enamorada de l''home alemany amb qui es casarà. En una fracció de segon, però, el món es torna blanc i esclata amb el so del foc i l''horror. En un instant la bomba atòmica ha esborrat tot el que ella ha conegut i estimat. L''únic que en queda són les ombres de tres grues, gravades amb foc a la seva esquena: una petja indeleble del món que ha perdut.Al llarg dels anys següents, la Hiroko viatja pel món, viu en noves llars i coneix més guerres. Les ombres de la història assetgen les famílies amb qui conviu. I en el seu trajecte des de l''Índia, al Pakistan o Nova York arriba fins a l''Afganistan, just després dels atemptats de l''11 de setembre del 2001. Aleshores, els lligams que han unit aquestes famílies durant generacions es tensen fins a l''extrem amb conseqüències imprevisibles.

Two years after her prospects are shattered by the bombing of Nagasaki, Hiroko Tanaka travels to Delhi in search of new beginnings and arrives in the home of her ex-fiance''s half-sister, but she finds her circumstances halted by conflicts in the Middle East that prompt her family''s eventual relocation to America.

Il 9 agosto 1945 a Nagasaki, Hiroko Tanaka esce sulla veranda di casa: leggera dei suoi ventun anni, innamorata del suo Konrad, i pensieri alati come le tre gru che le attraversano la schiena, ricamate sul suo kimono. All’improvviso, il cielo esplode di un bianco abbagliante e le strade si anneriscono di migliaia di ombre... E nel giro di un istante a Hiroko non rimane più nulla, a parte tre ustioni a forma di gru sulla schiena, ricordo indelebile di tutto ciò che la bomba le ha strappato. Due anni dopo arriva a Delhi, desiderosa di ricominciare. Come un fresco temporale estivo, entra nelle vite di Elizabeth, la sorella di Konrad, di suo marito James Burton, e di Sajjad Ashraf, un giovane indiano alle dipendenze dei Burton, da cui inizia a prendere lezioni di urdu. Gli anni passano, nuovi legami sostituiscono quelli perduti, vecchie guerre cedono il passo a nuovi conflitti. Ma tanto la Storia quanto le vicende personali gettano la loro ombra sulle vite ormai saldamente annodate dei Tanaka, dei Burton e degli Ashraf, trasportati dal Pakistan a New York, e di lì all’Afghanistan, all’indomani dell’11 settembre... In un romanzo poetico, teso e commovente, tra i cieli di Nagasaki, i giardini dell’India, l’asfalto di New York e il deserto afghano, Kamila Shamsie racconta un’epica vicenda di disastri scampati e affrontati, lealtà infrante e ricostruite, amori ripagati e traditi. E nei destini personali e comuni dei protagonisti canta la sua terra e la sua gente, sempre capaci e desiderose di far rinascere una speranza dalle profonde e ingombrati cicatrici di una guerra, che non cessa mai di dispensare il suo tragico abbraccio, con l’accanimento di una maledizione – o di un’amante.

Den 9. august 1945 står Hiroko Tanaka på en veranda i Nagasaki og ser opp mot himmelen. Hun er 21 år gammel og dypt forelsket i mannen hun skal gifte seg med. Brått blir verden hvit foran henne så følger smerten og redselen. Atombomben har truffet Nagasaki og tilintetgjort alt Hiroko kjenner. Hun reiser 2 år senere til Dehli på jakt etter en ny begynnelse. Romanen er et drama som krysser generasjoner, kulturer og kontinenter. Mellom atombomben over Nagasaki og angrepet på World Trade center i 2001 transporteres vi mellom ulike krigsherjede områder i verden.

Longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (now Women''s Prize for Fiction) Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Nagasaki, August 9, 1945. Hiroko Tanaka watches her lover from the veranda as he leaves. Sunlight streams across Urakami Valley, and then the world goes white. In the devastating aftermath of the atomic bomb, Hiroko leaves Japan in search of new beginnings. From Delhi, amid India''s cry for independence from British colonial rule, to New York City in the immediate wake of 9/11, to the novel''s astonishing climax in Afghanistan, a violent history casts its shadow the entire world over. Sweeping in its scope and mesmerizing in its evocation of time and place, this is a tale of love and war, of three generations, and three world-changing historic events. Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows is an enthralling meta-cultural epic, the panoramic tale of two families tangled together in some of the most devastating conflicts of modern history.

Het leven van een Japanse vrouw en haar Pakistaanse familie wordt bepaald door de gevolgen van oorlog en terreur in verschillende perioden van de naoorlogse geschiedenis.

The author argues that the most significant factor in the rise of Muslim extremist ideology is found within the circumstances of individual nation-states, and that the idea of Islam as a static global and temporal entity is a myth. The reality reflects a variety of experience founded on the co-mingling of religion, cultural and national and international politics. It is inside this individual complexity that battle-lines have been drawn and the fight waged within Islam itself. Through a consideration of the case of Pakistan, this volume places the recent surge in extremist Islam within the framework of the nation-state, and sharpens the dangerously blurred distinctions between the Merely Offended and the Violently Offended in the course of examining the causes of offence.

Crib mates, raised together from birth, narrator Raheen and her best friend Karim dream each other''s dreams, finish each other''s sentences, speak in a language of anagrams. They share an idyllic childhood in upper-class Karachi with parents who are also best friends. The two couples were even once engaged to the opposite partner until they rematched in what they jokingly call "the fiancee swap." The night Karim''s family migrates from Karachi to London, Raheen knows that "some of my tears were his tears and some of his tears were mine." But as distance and adolescence split them apart, Karim takes refuge in the rationality of maps while Raheen searches for the secret behind her parents'' exchange. What she uncovers takes us back two decades to reveal a story not just of a family''s turbulent history but that of a country -- and brings us forward to a grown-up Raheen and Karim poised between strained friendship and fated love. A young writer of astonishing maturity and exhilarating style, Kamila Shamsie transports us to a world we have not seen in fiction - vibrant, violent, utterly contemporary Pakistan. But even as she takes us far away from the familiar she tells a story of passion and family secrets that rings universally true.

Een jongen en een meisje groeien samen op in de Pakistaanse hoofdstad Karachi; als hij later naar Londen vertrekt, lijkt hun vriendschap voorbij.