Shadow Birds: The Story of a Young Girl During the Partition of India Paperback – 15 April 2019

A wonderful book, full of the day to day experiences of a young girl growing up during the partition of India. Described with insight a sensitivity I learned a lot.I really what to know more about the future of the family so, Dita, please carry on writing.

Shadow Birds is a lovely, important, well-written story, by Anindita Basu. It captured my imagination from beginning to end. Before reading this book, I did not know the history of Bangladesh. I didn’t understand the religious and cultural differences between Muslims and Hindus in India, which eventually pitted neighbors and friends against each other. I learned about the role of women, especially widows, at the time of the Partition of India in 1947. And I learned to appreciate the charm of the people and the countryside of a part of the world that has always been foreign to me. Thank you, Anindita Basu, for exposing me to all of this in a way left me wanting to know more.The main characters of Shadow Birds ~ Kukumoni, Padma and Ashmani ~ are classmates and friends from different religious backgrounds. They are smart, curious, young adolescent girls, who face situations that make them question the political climate outside of the magic Kingdom of Mymensingh, where they live. The Partition of India requires them to be courageous, each in different ways, as the story comes to a close.Anindita’s writing is exquisite. Her poetic use of language, especially her original use of similes and her description of people and places, made me smile. Shadow Birds is excellent, historically-accurate reading material for students and adults, alikeAs we face a world full of wars and refugees, books like Shadow Birds become more than just well-written words. They are a call to action. They remind us of the human faces and stories of refugees and the senseless violence of war.

The descriptions in Shadow Birds were mesmerizing and the stories echoed the ones heard from my relatives, displaced by Partition. A very poignant and emotional read for me.