The Storm: A Novel
Written by Arif Anwar
Narrated by Vikas Adam and Soneela Nankani
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Shahryar, a recent PhD graduate and father of nine-year-old Anna, must leave the United States when his visa expires. In their last remaining weeks together, we learn Shahryar’s history, in a village on the Bay of Bengal, where a poor fisherman and his wife are preparing to face a storm of historic proportions. That story intersects with those of a Japanese pilot, a British doctor stationed in Burma during World War II, and a privileged couple in Calcutta who leaves everything behind to move to East Pakistan following the Partition of India. Inspired by the 1970 Bhola cyclone, in which half a million-people perished overnight, the structure of this riveting novel mimics the storm itself. Building to a series of revelatory and moving climaxes, it shows the many ways in which families love, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another.
At once grounded in history and fantastically imaginative, The Storm “moves us deftly through time and across borders, beautifully illustrating the strange intersections we call fate, and reminding us how the past shapes the present” (Rumaan Alam, author of Rich and Pretty). Exploring the humanity that connects us beyond the surface differences of race, religion, and nationality, “this powerful and important debut is a story for our time” (Library Journal, starred review).
Arif Anwar
Arif Anwar was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, just miles from the Bay of Bengal. He has previously worked for BRAC, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental organizations, on issues of poverty alleviation, and for UNICEF Myanmar on public health issues. Arif has a PhD in education from the University of Toronto. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife Si (Sandra) Lian. The Storm is his first novel.
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Reviews for The Storm
17 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Based on a real-life 1970 cyclone that hit the Indian subcontinent that year, this novel in sections spanning 1942 to 2004 tells of the partition of India to the existence of Bangladesh through the intertwined stories of several characters from a Japanese fighter pilot, a fisherman and his wife, a Muslim gentry couple, an English female doctor, to a young Bangladeshi in America trying to get his green card and his half-American daughter. Characters are very realistic and I did learn something of the history of that time. A surprisingly absorbing read and very highly recommended.