Whiff of Mushroom

Kamila Shamsie traces an ambitious arc through Nagasaki,Partition,Afghanistan and 9/11

It is as chilling a description as any of the day Nagasaki was bombed on August 9,1945. Schoolteacher-turned-munitions factory worker Hiroko Tanaka notices the perfect blueness of the sky. Later she,a survivor,will remember that day as grey; her lover,a German,Konrad,is waiting for the war to be over so that the two of them can find an island away from everyone. Moments after they pledge their love for each other and Nagasaki is more beautiful than ever on that August morning,the world goes white. And Hirokos life and other peoples across countries and generations she shares history with change forever. Hiroko sees Konrads shadow on a rock near where the bomb fell and is sure its him because no one else in Nagasaki could cast such a long shadow. As for Hiroko,three black cranes on the kimono she is wearing are etched on her back forever.

This is a sweeping saga of our times,looking back to the past to connect with the present. The terrifying prologue about a Gitmo prisoner who wonders how his life comes to this is always at the back of your mind. But the history lesson comes in the form of Hirokos moving story. So,we follow her as she leaves Nagasaki for Tokyo and then on to India two years later to move in with Konrads half-sister Elizabeth and her husband James Burton,enjoying the last moments of the Raj in Delhi and yet concerned about the shape of things to come with two nations being born in bloodshed.

A year or two,no more,James had told her,and then the British would go. It seemed the most extraordinary privilege to have forewarning of a swerve in history,to prepare for

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how your life would curve around that bend. She had no idea what she planned to do beyond Delhi. Beyond next week. And why plan anyway? She had left such hubris behind. In Delhi,Hiroko encounters Sajjad Ashraf,who works for Mr Burton but wants to be a lawyer one day.

This is 1947,and the greatest migration in history across two nations is about to take place,displacing and,often,destroying many lives. Thus we follow the Hiroko-Ashraf trail,first to neutral country Istanbul and then pick it up years later in Karachi where they have made their home. Their child Raza Konrad Ashraf,growing up confused about his identity,is drawn to the Afghan Mujahideen. The Burtons,on the other hand,have a son Harry whose nostalgia for India refuses to go away: he names his daughter Kim. Burnt Shadows is Shamsies most ambitious work yet. Here she deals with multiple stories,multiple countries,multiple issues. This is a powerful post-9/11 novel about people with shared histories,and the complexities it can trigger.

Hiroko,despite suffering so much,is never shy of new beginnings and forming new bonds. She firmly believes there is no need to imagine walls between worlds. And though Konrad had been right to say barriers were made of metal that could turn fluid when touched simultaneously by people on either side,her practical self knows that it is always not enough to stamp out injustice or misunderstandings. The irony is not lost on anyone when Hiroko,a victim of Americas nuclear bomb,chooses New York of all places as her last refuge,to escape India-Pakistans nuclear race. Shamsie connects the dots between World War II,Nagasaki,Partition,India-Pakistan-Afghanistans troubled histories,9/11 and we have a map of the world at present,still at war over religion,identity.

In four sections,the novel is beautifully written,especially the first two that deal with Nagasaki and India on the eve of Partition. In the second half,the story has a lot less of Hiroko,and thats only a minor quibble with the book. In 2008,we hailed Joseph ONeills Netherland as one of the best post-9/11 novels. Shamsies Burnt Shadows should make it to the list as well.