Anam's celebrated first novel, A Golden Age, examined the impact of Bangladesh's brutal war of independence on a widowed mother and her family.

This second book finds Maya Haque, a liberal-minded doctor, returning to Dhaka to make peace with her brother, Sohail, who has since become a religious leader.

The ensuing debate about religious fundamentalism is fleshed out with controlled intensity as Maya vows "she will not become one of those people who buckle under the force of a great event and allow it to change the metre of who they are".