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Burnt Shadows

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 1,499 ratings · 298 reviews

The morning of August 9, 1945 breaks dreary and unspectacular in the city of Nagasaki. Nonetheless, twenty-one year-old Hiroko Tanaka is elated: she is in love. Her emerging romance with the displaced German Konrad Weiss offers release from the greyness of wartime deprivation. In this time of heightened xenophobia, their affair must be kept secret, particularly as Hiroko’s...more The morning of August 9, 1945 breaks dreary and unspectacular in the city of Nagasaki. Nonetheless, twenty-one year-old Hiroko Tanaka is elated: she is in love. Her emerging romance with the displaced German Konrad Weiss offers release from the greyness of wartime deprivation. In this time of heightened xenophobia, their affair must be kept secret, particularly as Hiroko’s father has recently been outcast for questioning the patriotism of sending children on kamikaze missions. As Hiroko and Konrad furtively plan for a future after the war, there is no way they can comprehend the unspeakable devastation bearing down upon them.

Two years later, Hiroko arrives in Delhi at the home of Konrad’s sister Ilse and his brother-in-law James Burton. Upon Hiroko’s back are crane-shaped scars, seared into her skin when her kimono was incinerated by the bomb. She is on the run from unbearable memories, as well as from the stigma of being branded a hibakusha, a survivor of the bomb. Ilse, in an uncharacteristically impulsive move, welcomes Hiroko into her home, seeing in the brave young woman a possibility of release from her own conscripted existence. Hiroko quickly destabilizes the frigid hierarchy of the household, much to the relief of Sajjad Ashraf, James’s bored servant.

Tensions are running high in the Mohalla with the looming partition of India and Pakistan. Will Sajjad remain in his beloved Dilli/Delhi, or depart with so many others for the promise of Pakistan? Sajjad’s family has secured for him a wife, and he yearns for a legal career, still half-clinging to the hope that James will assist him. But James’s only use for him is as a chess opponent, an idle distraction as the Raj winds to a close. The Burtons are preparing to decamp for England, having already dispatched their son Harry to boarding school. But what James does not know is that Ilse is making other plans.

A romance blooms between Hiroko and Sajjad, much to the incredulity of the Burtons, whose own emotional lives have become entwined in the futures of their charismatic young charges. Despite outbursts of jealousies and a terrible act of betrayal, the Burtons nevertheless assist Hiroko and Sajjad in their flight to married life in Istanbul. Later the Ashrafs will move to Karachi to raise their son, Raza.

The lives of the Ashrafs and the Burtons will remain entwined for decades, though in ways they cannot anticipate. Across continents and through geopolitical flux, each family will continue to act as a catalytic force upon the other, sometimes in life-saving ways, and sometimes causing great peril. Why is it that some bonds flourish in times of crisis, and why do some fail? What defines the character that survives the cruelest of circumstances? And how is it that entire populations can support unspeakable acts en masse, while relating as individuals with compassion?

Longlisted for the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction, 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.(less)

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published April 28th 2009 by Bond Street Books (first published 2009)

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Dec 21, 2012 Hani rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

http://www.abjjad.com/review/1980235795

لم تأخذ منّي مراجعة كل ذلك الوقت في كتابتها كما فعلت هذه الرواية; كنت أكتب السطر أو السطرين في مسوّدَةٍ خارجية, ثمّ أتريّث. ثم أعود لتعديل ما كتبت و أضيف ما تراءى لي أن أضيفه, ثم أتريّث. و كان حالي ما بين التّريّث و التّريّث الذي يليه كحال من يخشى إفساد العمل دون أن يرجو نجاحه! فسلبُ السّلبِ; إيجاب, كما حدّثونا. حتى استقرّ بي الأمر-بعد عشرة أيام أو تزيد- إلى ما هو مكتوبٌ هنا -على نقصِه و عدم كفايته. و يبقى ماهو منقوشٌ هناك في الذاكرة - ذاكرة العقل و ذاكرة ا...more http://www.abjjad.com/review/1980235795

لم تأخذ منّي مراجعة كل ذلك الوقت في كتابتها كما فعلت هذه الرواية; كنت أكتب السطر أو السطرين في مسوّدَةٍ خارجية, ثمّ أتريّث. ثم أعود لتعديل ما كتبت و أضيف ما تراءى لي أن أضيفه, ثم أتريّث. و كان حالي ما بين التّريّث و التّريّث الذي يليه كحال من يخشى إفساد العمل دون أن يرجو نجاحه! فسلبُ السّلبِ; إيجاب, كما حدّثونا. حتى استقرّ بي الأمر-بعد عشرة أيام أو تزيد- إلى ما هو مكتوبٌ هنا -على نقصِه و عدم كفايته. و يبقى ماهو منقوشٌ هناك في الذاكرة - ذاكرة العقل و ذاكرة الفؤاد- عن الرواية, و عن الجميع, و عن الرّقصة ... أحلى, أو أمرّ!

قارّتين -من أقصى الشرق إلى أقصى الغرب. و ثفافات مختلفة. وجيلَين. و الإلحاد و المسيحية و الإسلام و الهزاره و البشتون. من ناجازاكي و القنبلة, إلى دلهي القديمة و الجديدة في الهند, مروراً بكراتشي في باكستان النّاشئة, ثم إلى أفغانستان و الجهاد ضدّ السوفييت قبل طالبان و حتى طالبان, و انتهاءً بنيويورك بعد أحداث الحادي عشر من سبتمبر; تمضي بنا الرواية في اهتزازاتٍ عجيبة و تناقضاتٍ أعجب! تتراوح ما بين الأرجحة حيناً, و الدّغدغة حيناً, و الهزّ العنيف المُقلِق, الباعث على التّوتّر, ثمّ بعض الزلازل و ما يلحقُ بها من توابع قد تكون أشدّ وطئة من الزلازل ذاتها! ستّون عاماً -تنقصُ أو تزيدُ قليلا- هي عُمر أحداث الرواية بدءاً من حادثة إلقاء القنبلة على ناجازاكي عام 1945, وحتى بدايات القرن الحادي و العشرين, مرّت بي - لازلت لا أدري- كضيفٍ عابرٍ آنسَني و آنستُه؟ أم تراها كانت كألوان الطّيف البادي على استحياءٍ بعد ليلةٍ مطيرةٍ عاصفة, فكانت هي الطّيف كما كانت هي العاصفة؟ عجيب! أو عجيبةٌ هي تلك الرواية التي تنتقل بك من الصيّف إلى الشتاء على حينِ غرّة دون سابقة تحضير, أو لاحقة تفكير و تدبير لما سيأتي بعد ذلك من تحوّلٍ مماثل في عكس الإتجاه!

*ناجازاكي, 9 أغسطس 1945, تخطو "هيروكو" نحو شرفتها مرتدية ثوبها الكيمونو الذي يحمل رسماً لثلاثة طيور. إنها في الحادية و العشرين من عمرها, و على وشك الزواج من "كونراد فايس". و في ثانية واحدة يتحوّل العالم إلى لون أبيض لامع. و بعد الإنفجار الذي محا كل ما قد عرفته "هيروكو" في حياتها, لم يتبقّ لها سوى حروق على ظهرها على شكل طائر, كتذكار لا ينمحي عن العالم الذي فقدته. و بعد سنتين تسافر "هيروكو" إلى دلهي, لتقابل عائلة "كونراد" بحثا عن بداية جديدة, فتقع في حب أحد موظّفيهم.*

<هاهو العنكبوت هناك, و هاهو ظلّها. عائلتان, نسختان من رقصة العنكبوت. "آل تاناكا أشرف" و "آل فايس برتون". قصتهما معاً قصة قنبلة, قصة وطن مفقود, قصة رجل أُردِي قتيلاً في الميناء, قصة رفض ارتداء القميص الواقي من الرصاص, قصة الهرب وحيداً من أعظم قوة في العالم.>

رقصة العنكبوت - وددتُ لو قرأت النّص الأصلي بالإنجليزية لأتأكّد أنّ المُترجِمة لم تُخطئ في ترجمة كلمة "رقصة"- و التي أتى ذِكرها قبل نهاية الرواية بوريقاتٍ قليلة; رقصَت على تلافيف عقلي فاستوحشتُه, و رقصَت على أوتار قلبي فاستعطفَني أن أتركهُ لحاله و لا أُكمِل. فتوقّفتُ, علّه يهدأُ قليلاً! يا إلــهي... لم أضطّرب مثل ذلك منذ أمدٍ بعيد; رائعةٌ هي تلك المشاهد المُتدفّقة في تلك الرّقصة -على قِصرِها, كما هي رائعةٌ تلك الأحداث المُتسلسلة منذ البدايات -على مرارتها و غصّة وقعها على النّفس في بعض الأحيان- حتى انتهت بنهاية تلك الرّقصة, أو بعد ذلك بقليل(نهاية الرواية).

وجب هاهنا تسجيل جواب شكر للمُترجِمة (إيمان حرز الله); فلولاها لما كان هذا العمل بمثل هذا البهاء و الرّوعة. روايةٌ رائعة و ترجمةٌ أروع.

تردّدتُ في التّقييم كثيراً; حتى عقدت العزم على منحها التّقييم النهائي, لولا أنّي تذكّرتُ مشهداً لم أغفر للكاتبة تصويره, فكانت كفّارته "نصف نجمة", و لا عزاء!

ما بين علامتي (*) هو اقتباس من الغلاف الخلفي للرواية, و ما بين علامتي(<>) هو اقتباس من الرواية ذاتها.
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جديرٌ بالذكر أن تلك الرواية باعت أكثر من 22 مليون نسخة ونُشرت بخمس وخمسين لغة. كما بيعت حقوق النشر لأكثر من عشرين دولة.

المصدر: النّاشر- دار بلومزبري القطرية(less)

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Feb 19, 2010 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Merilee,Maria, Gail

Recommended to Barbara by: Rose O (with gratitude)

Shelves: asia, holocaust-ww-2

"Burnt Shadows" was a gift to me from a friend who valued this book highly. It was a gift for me because it has given me much food for thought. At the outset, I was determined to enjoy this book to share the pleasure with my friend, but as I progressed I could observe why she ranked it so highly.

I will not attempt a summary here. One can easily find that elsewhere. The scope of this novel is huge. It spans about 60 years, from the A- Bomb in Nagasaki, to the partitioning of India and Pakistan,...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Khaled Al Desouky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

قوية، رائعة، مؤثرة، مُشوقة الي أبعد درجة
من ناجازاكي الي دلهي الي كراتشي الي نيويورك الي أفغانستان تسافر مع أحداث الكتاب الي تلك الأماكن وتفتقد الأماكن السابقة.. أو لا تفتقدها بالمرة!

هيروكو، سجاد، الزي وجايمس غرباء جدا لكن وقت اللقاء أقرباء بطريقة ساحرة.
مآسي ومآسي ما تتكون منه هذه الرواية... ليس بها لحظات جميلة أو حميمية بالقدر الذي تواجدت فيه الأحداث التراجيدية

هي رواية فيها الكثير من المشاعر المتداخلة -وأيضا اللغات- بين شخصياتها ونتاج حياة أشخاص تؤثر علي الكل سواء داخل الرواية أو خارجها

ونهاية-م...more قوية، رائعة، مؤثرة، مُشوقة الي أبعد درجة
من ناجازاكي الي دلهي الي كراتشي الي نيويورك الي أفغانستان تسافر مع أحداث الكتاب الي تلك الأماكن وتفتقد الأماكن السابقة.. أو لا تفتقدها بالمرة!

هيروكو، سجاد، الزي وجايمس غرباء جدا لكن وقت اللقاء أقرباء بطريقة ساحرة.
مآسي ومآسي ما تتكون منه هذه الرواية... ليس بها لحظات جميلة أو حميمية بالقدر الذي تواجدت فيه الأحداث التراجيدية

هي رواية فيها الكثير من المشاعر المتداخلة -وأيضا اللغات- بين شخصياتها ونتاج حياة أشخاص تؤثر علي الكل سواء داخل الرواية أو خارجها

ونهاية-مثلها كالجزء الأول من الكتاب- خلابة مُصورة علي طريقة تجعلك داخلها ومع الشخصيات بالفعل، فيها دروس لتخطي الأحزان وألا تؤثر تلك الأحزان علي اتجاهات الحياة المختلفة وردود الفعل.

اسلوب الكتابة عاماً جديد عليَّ ولكن سرعان ما تعودت عليه. وأعتقد اني لم احس ان النص مترجما وهذه ميزةٌ رائعة.

قراءة الرواية كانت حقا ممتعة.. فعلا عالم روائي مختلف

(view spoiler)(less)

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May 19, 2010 Rose rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all my GR friends

Shelves: group-local-book-club

A great read! I highly recommend it. You will feel challenged and enlightened, possibly provoked, and undoubtedly enriched.

Beautiful lyrical prose. This book was an Orange Prize finalist.

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Ken-ichi

Shelves: japan, afghanistan, asia, europe, new-york, india, fiction

A twisting yarn of a book that struck me as something written fresh on the heels of 9-11. There were certain elements of the plot that I thought were probably even more impactful for readers who read this book a few years after that horrific event.

Beginning in Nagasaki, Japan, just before the second nuclear bomb drops, the story ventures to India, Turkey, Pakistan, and New York as it follows two families, one of German-English and another Japanese-Pakistani extraction. Lives mirror and intersec...more A twisting yarn of a book that struck me as something written fresh on the heels of 9-11. There were certain elements of the plot that I thought were probably even more impactful for readers who read this book a few years after that horrific event.

Beginning in Nagasaki, Japan, just before the second nuclear bomb drops, the story ventures to India, Turkey, Pakistan, and New York as it follows two families, one of German-English and another Japanese-Pakistani extraction. Lives mirror and intersect, and Shamsie makes some important observations about class and racial tension.

Because this book was recommended to me for my fondness for The Far Pavilions, I expected a grand, sweeping love story. No luck. The romance motif in this book is nothing like Ashok's fairy-tales. Instead the relationships are broken down jalopies, bravely forging ahead on unstable ground. On that negative note, one could also easily compare this novel to The Kite Runner for it's ties to the conflict in Afghanistan. For me, the Kite Runner is more straight-forwardly depressing. This book is much more thoughtful and introspective.

Ultimately, what was most interesting to me was the cultural soup of Japanese, German, British, Indian, Pakistani, and Americans that flavored the novel. My general takeaway was that the author wanted to show what happens when people choose to be nice to "the other", but still not treat them as equals--those actions have far-reaching, inhumane, humiliating consequences. I also thought that it was interesting to note that author dismisses the idea of using the personal element of a tragedy as the centerpiece of a larger tragedy...

Food for thought (Regarding Nagasaki):

"You lived it," Kim said. "our father died in it. Your fiance died in it. There's no shame in putting all the weight in the world on that."
It was the wrong answer.
Hiroko turned to her, face bright with anger.
"Is that why? That's why Nagasaki was such a monstrous crime? Because it happened to me?" She pulled the gloves off and threw them at Kim. "I don't want your hot chocolate," she said and stalked away.

This book brings up a lot of sediment to sift through. It wasn't always pleasant to read, but it was educational.
(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 okyrhoe rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookcrossing, books-i-own, india, pakistan, u-s-a, change-cover

I actually enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to others. But it failed to 'wow' me....
For some reason the plot seemed a tad too obvious. I could tell more or less what was going to happen, in which direction the scenes were developing. So I was reading at two levels, one to read the plot, and another to sense/study the words on the page. That second aspect however wasn't taking me anywhere. I expected to be engaged by the narrative exposition – looking forward to discover irony, doubl...more I actually enjoyed reading it, and I would recommend it to others. But it failed to 'wow' me....
For some reason the plot seemed a tad too obvious. I could tell more or less what was going to happen, in which direction the scenes were developing. So I was reading at two levels, one to read the plot, and another to sense/study the words on the page. That second aspect however wasn't taking me anywhere. I expected to be engaged by the narrative exposition – looking forward to discover irony, double meanings, etc. - the kind of elements I had previously admired in Shamsie's novel Broken Verses. Somehow the story and the telling of it felt as if the novel lacked much of that.
I had the distinct impression the novel was written with a film adaptation in mind. “The English Patient” I thought on a number of times. Eventually I came to the final section’s title; it validated my impression.
Without saying it's necessarily a bad thing, there were also moments when works by other writers came to mind (Nicole Krauss The History of Love, Stephanie Kallos Broken for You, Marina Lewicka We Are All Made of Glue, Andre Dubus III The House of Sand and Fog). I'm not saying that Shamsie is emulating any of these works, it's just that her novel didn't seem distinctively unique from these other works with similar themes.
If Burnt Shadows is derivative of any particular story, Vikram Seth's Two Lives (a biography of his Indian uncle who married a German woman in England after WWII) may have been a major source: Hiroko's stoic quietude is an apt homage to V. Seth's German "Aunty."
And for Raza Hazara's character, I would venture to guess the tragic& complex story of Carlos Mavroleon may have been an inspiration.

The story should have gotten under my skin, but it didn’t. Why not? It's not that I sensed the plot elements lacked credibility, or that these characters' coming together, drawing apart, only to be united again, seemed too farfetched to bear a resemblance to reality. Far from it, it mirrored my own family’s photo album (WWII, post-Partition Karachi, the Suez, a cemetary in Korea, etc.) and I had no problem with all these seemingly disparate elements coming together in a six-degrees of separation kind of way.
Nearing the final page of the book, I tried to find the root of my lack of excitement over this novel. One thing that bothered me is the “young” generation's (Kim's and Raza's) lack of a coherent political conscience. At this point I felt the characters lacked a substantial dimension; they became pawns in the storyboard the author was setting up for the final climactic scene. Despite the complexity of their heritage and their "inside" knowledge of history's details, they come off as somewhat naive (in an insular sort of way, which they clearly weren't) and that did not convince me, given their background. More than anything, the last 40-50 pages of the book (the New York section) are the most "screenplayish" of all. It's all about plot; there is nothing of the carefully crafted dialogue and scenic descriptions of the first part of the book (the Nagasaki and Dilli sections).
Another thing I felt cheated by is that we are told time and time again that Hiroko and Raza are fascinated by language, yet that is not reflected into the work itself. Having read Shamsie's Broken Verses, where the literary element is an integral feature of the story, I expected to find that kind of meta-fictional play at work here, too, but it is missing. (less)

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Jan 28, 2010 Sessily added it

This is another book I wanted to like more than I did. Shamsie writes about two transnational families over the course of 55 years, following them from Japan and India, to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the U.S. These are people who have left homes behind but who also adapt quickly to their new surroundings (they're almost all polyglots). They are all capable people, trying to live their own lives, but also finding themselves and their dreams casualties of the politics and violence of the world. I l...more

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May 18, 2009 Marie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4.5 star read for me.

Instead of repeating the sequence of events that are outlined in the blurbs, I am going to skim the details. And for those of you who read my review of the new novel, "The Wish Maker", let me say that what I was hoping for in that novel has been deftly achieved here with Burnt Shadows. This novel's events begin with and then reflect upon the aftermath of the atomic bomb the USA dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 that alters Hiroko's life forever, and this is one of those...more This is a 4.5 star read for me.

Instead of repeating the sequence of events that are outlined in the blurbs, I am going to skim the details. And for those of you who read my review of the new novel, "The Wish Maker", let me say that what I was hoping for in that novel has been deftly achieved here with Burnt Shadows. This novel's events begin with and then reflect upon the aftermath of the atomic bomb the USA dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 that alters Hiroko's life forever, and this is one of those stories that stays in your mind long after you read it. The novel follows Hiroko and her family as she moves from Nagasaki to Bombay, to Istanbul and to Karachi, Pakistan and ultimately to New York City; sadly, the wars of the nations following her.

The prose was just beautifully written and so very descriptive that I was easily imagining the landscape surrounding the characters. The grief from the loss of Hiroko's loved ones throughout the story was delicately palpable, without calling direct attention to it, yet the words are so powerful that I had to put the book down to savor the full meaning and to not lose the poetic prose of the moment.

Along with Hiroko, we also have Elizabeth and James Burton, and Sajjad who worked for the Burtons. The characters were all very well developed as the narration gracefully divides its time between all of the above characters. The Burtons' and Hiroko's lives become unexpectedly intersected upon the death of Konrad Weiss, Hiroko's first love in Nagasaki, and their new found relationship develops into a natural familial one. Sajjad then gets tangled among the web by falling in love with Hiroko and we feel pained for them as they each struggle to find a place in a society amongst a war torn country with its social conflicts between its political barriers. We easily transition from the different points of views of each of the characters, and I was pleased with how unbiased the view was on the war from the author; we see how each of the characters react to the effects of events so that we can better learn the truth of the political system and the cultural divides they faced. This novel spans generations, ending after the attacks of the Twin Towers in NYC. Although this event occurred during the timeline of the book, the author did not go into the details of the horrors, which is something that I was secretly glad for, due to being from New York that is indeed close to home.

I was very humbled and sorrowed in learning about the effects the Atomic bomb had on Nagasaki, when it was dropped in August of 1945. The followed quote from page 78 is regarding Hiroko to Sajjad, from just this one woman's point of view, when in reality it killed millions and affected many millions more:

"She could not tell anyone, not even this man with the gentle eyes and an understanding of the scent of the gods, how Yoshi had left her with the stone for a few minutes while he went in search of implements to dig with and she had lain down on Konrad's shadow, within Konrad's shadow, her mouth pressed against the darkness of his chest. 'Why didn't you stay?' she had whispered against the unyielding stone."

And the Burnt Shadows, which appear physically as burns in the shapes of birds on Hiroko's back, haunt Hiroko for the rest of her life, as she dreams of them and as she becomes an outcast due to the fact she survived the bomb, and millions did not. She is labeled as a Hibakusha, a victim of the bomb: she could have been carrying a disease and her child could have been also. In the story, when Hiroko is fearing for her teen-aged son Raza, the author writes: "The birds had their prey....She had not imagined the birds could fly outwards and enter the mind of this girl, and from her mind enter Raza's heart."

Along with Hiroko's life, we are following the story of The Burtons, and how these families befriend each other in the hard times and become friends for life, born in different countries, and with different nationalities, yet not really having a place to call home. Their offspring do not meet, yet they will always know that they are connected spiritually due to their parents' journeys together. It is their perceptions and their legacies that bring about the climax at the end of the book. There was a slow spot in the last third of the book, as the author was building up to the final moments and once we got there I found that the ending was a bit abrupt. I had not seen that exact outcome coming; I had a different mental picture that I thought was going to occur but I was wrong. It wasn't a bad ending, but I was a bit perturbed that I had gotten to the last sentence and yet still expected a bit more to be said. I guess I could have been selfish and just did not want the book end there, I had savored each sentence and let the story pull me in and I wasn't ready for such an ending.

This is definitely a book for the current events of our times; what can we learn from the wars and how can we turn this lesson into reaching something positive from the millions and millions of people that have been innocent victims? How should we consider national paranoia versus loyalty? Love versus hate? The author Kamila Shamsie has such a way of putting a sentence together which speaks volumes of the underlying nature; its multiple meanings dripping heavily from the words. Regret, remorse, grief, sorrow, symbolism and love shrouded in hope for a better future. This book leaves an imprint on your soul, much like the imprint the bomb left on Hiroko's scarred back. A definite recommended read.
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Jul 09, 2010 Chrissie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: hf, india, kirkus, japan, afghanistan, pakistan, usa

NO SPOILERS

I finished this last night. Three or four stars? Do I REALLY like it or do I like it. While I was reading it, I REALLY liked it, but with time it is the story that will remain not all the wonderful lines that are so intriguing. I think it will turn into an "I liked it" book. You will thoroughly enjoy the time spent with this book if you enjoyed the quotes below. Don't think three stars means, aacch choose something else. I loved it b/c it was thought provoking. The last third of the b...more

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Jan 21, 2010 Vivienne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Vivienne by: vivienneor@yahoo.com

Shelves: modern-lit, period-fiction

What an incredible and ambitious novel! Focusing on a few people brought together by love and chance, it tells an epic story weaving together these personal stories with a few key events of the latter half of the 20thC and just into the 21st.

It begins with the bombing of Nagasaki and then moves onto the withdrawal of the British from India and the Partition, then to the Afghan conflict of the 1980s and finally to the aftermath of 9/11.

It is beautifully written and tackles strong issues with a co...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Indiabookstore rated it 4 of 5 stars

Historical journey collides in the consequences of the present, common thread giving birth to a new time and space. The story is the reflection of events took birth in the socio-political conflicting scenario between nations at the time of World War 2, America’s decision against Nagasaki, India’s freedom from East India Company, Soviet’s intervention into Afghanistan in the eighties, birth of Taliban and creation of a new religion- Terrorism by the term of 9/11 and the CIA emergence in the parts...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Christine Rebbert rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh, my goodness... I must have read several reviews of this book at various times because it actually appeared in my little blank book-list of books-I-want-to-read THREE times. So I thought, well, it's about time I actually got to it! Yes, it's a novel about a survivor of the atomic bomb at Nagasaki in 1945, but it is so, so much more than that. The lives of the various characters entwine through India, Pakistan, America, and Afghanistan over the next almost-60 years, right through the aftermath...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Meenakshisankar M rated it 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful novel that traces the life of Hiroko, a survivor from Nagasaki and Sajjad, a Delhi Muslim who is forced to migrate to Pakistan, and their life together. They have a friendship with the Burtons, who employed Sajjad before India's independence, that lasts their whole lifetime, taking them to USA. Hiroko is a brilliantly written character, with such an amazing personality, the way she handles everything that life throws at her is exceptional. Various events in their lives takes them int...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nominated for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction, Kamila Shamsie’s fifth novel, Burnt Shadows, explores the way in which histories shape one another, and of how people, caught up in events beyond their control, manage to find humanity even in the darkest of days.

It reveals its epic scope quickly, with a short prologue in Guantanamo Bay, as a man in shackles wonders “How did it come to this?” Instead of showing us this Islamisation of this youth, we travel backward, to Nagasaki, on the day of the...more Nominated for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction, Kamila Shamsie’s fifth novel, Burnt Shadows, explores the way in which histories shape one another, and of how people, caught up in events beyond their control, manage to find humanity even in the darkest of days.

It reveals its epic scope quickly, with a short prologue in Guantanamo Bay, as a man in shackles wonders “How did it come to this?” Instead of showing us this Islamisation of this youth, we travel backward, to Nagasaki, on the day of the atomic bomb. At every point in this novel Shamsie undermines expectation. Hiroko, a Japanese teacher turned munitions factory worker in love with the German man, Konrad Weiss, but their romance is curtailed by a flash of white light in the sky and Konrad becomes a shadow on a stone and the birds on Hiroko’s kimono are seared into her flesh, a fusion of “charred silk, seared flesh”, and the novel leaps again from 1940s Japan to Delhi in the 1940s. Here we meet Konrad’s family, people with a dashing air, but Hiroko is drawn to Sajjad Ali Ashraf, a Muslim employee. Ilse Weiss misconstrues a moment of intimacy between Hiroko and Sajjad as predation, but their romance is born and as they flew the violence rising in India and the about to be formed Pakistan, the novel leaps forward again in time, to 1980s Pakistan where we meet Sajjad and Hiroko’s child, Raza. Raza is a brilliant polyglot and soon finds himself befriending Afghani refugees from the Soviet invasion. He meets Ilse Weiss’s son, Harry Burton, a CIA operative who has a daughter, Kim that sometimes visits. Shamsie all the while is invisibly pulling the threads, bringing her characters ever closer to the brink. The novel leaps again to 2001, just after the fall of the World Trade Centre. Hiroko is in New York with Ilse and Kim. Raza is working with Harry in Afghanistan. Another moment of misconstrued behaviour sees Harry gunned down and puts Raza on the run. He arrives back in America looking to help a friend escape an America that is hunting down any Muslim with ties to Afghanistan, but another moment of misconstrued behaviour will change the fates of all these people; people caught in the tidal swell of history.

Kamila Shamsie’s novel is both a tour-de-force and so overly ambitious that it falls under its own weight. There are moments where she struggles for the portentous and it comes across as contrived, especially in the final stages of Raza’s journey in Afghanistan. The shadows of Michael Ondaatje and Anita Desai loom over this. However, Shamsie’s portrait of these different worlds is at times so masterly it overrides all of this. We are swept along in this narrative, just as the characters are, and the final act of betrayal and acceptance that end the novel echoed so beautifully back through everything else that had come before you realise that this is the only way this story could end. As with all the best fiction the end of Burnt Shadows is not the end of the story. With the themes she is discussing in this novel becoming relevant again, it would be interesting to see how Raza, Kim and all the rest try to understand the world since 2001.

This is a powerful, epic novel that reveals an author unafraid of tackling the big themes. To have ambition in her writing and to have the strength to pull it off is a rare thing in today’s consumerist society. Kamila Shamsie should be praised widely for Burnt Shadows. I could say more, so much more, but I haven’t the time, so please, just go and read this wonderful book.(less)

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Sep 10, 2011 Blake Fraina rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think it's important to note that the main characters in Kamila Shamsie’s brilliant novel, Burnt Shadows, are Japanese, German and Pakistani Muslims. This is a book that deals with the political tensions between different nations, nationalities and ethnic groups, and within that context Shamsie succeeds in putting a human face on the US's three bitterest enemies of the past sixty years. It is an epic novel that spans all of those years - covering three generations and as many continents. And,...more I think it's important to note that the main characters in Kamila Shamsie’s brilliant novel, Burnt Shadows, are Japanese, German and Pakistani Muslims. This is a book that deals with the political tensions between different nations, nationalities and ethnic groups, and within that context Shamsie succeeds in putting a human face on the US's three bitterest enemies of the past sixty years. It is an epic novel that spans all of those years - covering three generations and as many continents. And, a typical hazard of epic fiction, just when I found myself getting attached to one group of people and becoming invested in their storyline, the author moves on.

She is particularly skilled at creating memorable and sympathetic characters. I especially loved Hiroko, the Japanese woman who loses her German fiance in the bombing of Nagasaki, and thereafter moves to India to live with his sister (who has nearly disavowed her German identity) and her British husband. Hiroko is the personification of "ground zero," as she moves from her decimated home city after the bombing, to Delhi just before the acrimonious partition between India and Pakistan and, as a widow, to New York City in the years leading up to September 11. She is a most unusual and spirited creation and I was saddened when the author eventually moved her to the margins.

All the other characters, while not quite as impressive as Hiroko, are unique and believable. Even to the very end, when some very destructive choices are made, I was hard-pressed to lay blame. Shamsie demonstrates that we are all products of the times we live in and, since WWII, propaganda and fear-mongering have played a huge role in shaping society.

Shamsie’s writing is concise and very readable. I found the pages flying by and what seemed to be, at the outset, a rather daunting read, went by very quickly.

Burnt Shadows demonstrates how circumstances, both personal and global, are often the result of a chain of events that, once set into motion, are all but impossible to stop. And by winning our empathy for her characters, she proves that, underneath it all, we are all much more alike than different.
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Aug 24, 2011 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Marvelously powerful book about the complexities and interrelations of cultures and nations. It begins with the bombing of Nagasaki and those horrors, with the prejudice against the German Konrad and his charming romance with the wise Hiroko. Hiroko eventually moves on to India and the author delves into the complexities of the British Empire then as it is ending and Pakistan is forming. Hiroko feels the sadness of the separation and ends of living in Pakistan, with her son having the traumas of...more

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Jul 13, 2011 C rated it 4 of 5 stars

The beginning with the love story in Japan (and the writing style a bit) reminded me of David Mitchell's 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet' and sure enough, Mitchell is mentioned in the acknowledgements. Interesting. One section also reminded me of 'A Passage to India', though I have never read it, and a few pages later it is actually mentioned in this one. It also reminded me of The Kite Runner. As I knew there were so many tragedies as a centerpiece, I thought maybe Shamsie was trying to...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Amie Mills rated it 5 of 5 stars

Just as it found its way to me, when I read Burnt Shadows I immediately bought another copy and shipped it to one of my best friend's back home. This book is a gift and a companion that is hard to let go. She's been added to my list of 'must read again and again in my lifetime.'

Complicated, generation-spanning, and with characters that you fall in love with for very different reasons, this book touches upon prejudice and fear in the wake of historical upheavals (Nagasaki and Sep 11) and how live...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Holly marked it as to-read

2009 Orange Shortlist - from Belletrista: Kamila Shamsie's In the City by the Sea, Kartography, and Burnt Shadows display an author who has progressed from writing quiet family tales to sweeping epic novels. Underlying this change is the constant importance of place, and the beauty and pain of human relationships. Burnt Shadows is an ambitious novel, one that made me reflect upon the very nature of our world. It convinced me to delve deeper into Shamsie's works, and there I found an author who h...more 2009 Orange Shortlist - from Belletrista: Kamila Shamsie's In the City by the Sea, Kartography, and Burnt Shadows display an author who has progressed from writing quiet family tales to sweeping epic novels. Underlying this change is the constant importance of place, and the beauty and pain of human relationships. Burnt Shadows is an ambitious novel, one that made me reflect upon the very nature of our world. It convinced me to delve deeper into Shamsie's works, and there I found an author who has lots to say about human existence. These are novels worth reading, and worth treasuring.

The opening page of Burnt Shadows is of a man entering a prison. He is instructed to strip naked, and is left shivering in a cell. No indication is given of time or place. We soon forget about this man.

Next we are transported to Japan, 9 August 1945. Hiroko Tanaka lives in Nagasaki, a teacher engaged to marry Konrad Weiss, a German man who has lived in Japan since before the beginning of World War 2. The love between these two characters is clear, and the reader is given just enough time to yearn for their happiness when tragedy strikes, and Nagasaki is destroyed. Konrad is killed, and Hiroko is left alone in the world, scarred by the burns on her back and the pain in her heart.

Two years later Hiroko travels to India to seek out Konrad's sister Elizabeth, living in Delhi with her husband James. Elizabeth and Hiroko become close friends, and Hiroko manages to find love again with Sajjad Ashraf, James' assistant. Over the next several decades, the ups and downs of life take Hiroko's family across continents, first to Pakistan, on to New York City, and finally to Afghanistan immediately following 9/11.

Pakistan plays a much smaller role in Burnt Shadows, as Shamsie ventures beyond her homeland. Still, place is very much an important concept, and the descriptions of Japan, India, and Afghanistan add new characters to the novel. With Hiroko's life taking her far from Nagasaki, there is a sense that home is not a place, but the people in your life. Her bonds with Sajjad and Elizabeth are deep and complex, riddled with ethnic tensions and past mistakes, but they are solid and lasting too.

Like Kartography, Burnt Shadows deals with challenging issues, and once again Shamsie confronts the reader with political debates and moral uncertainties. No character is perfect—as much as I loved Sajjad, there were parts of him that I very much disliked, and even Hiroko has her trying moments. These flaws make Shamsie's characters real, and so the reader is drawn even further into her writing, taking sides in family arguments, feeling pain at tragic events, and understanding one character's final, horrible sacrifice.

Burnt Shadows eventually comes full circle, and that prisoner from the opening pages makes another appearance in an ending that will leave you breathless. This story is not just Hiroko's, but instead is the story of the last sixty-five years of human existence. We may think we have come a long way since Japan in 1945, but after reading Burnt Shadows, we see just how little things have changed.

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Apr 29, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

This book was really difficult for me to finish because I knew how it would end.

Much like The House of Sand and Fog, this is a novel that concentrates on the difficulties of our plural, interconnected world. Cultural, religious, socioeconomic, and ideological differences seperate us from our neighbors, from the people across the world, from our enemy. But are we really so different? Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of our family, of our past, and of our nation?

The reader of this novel trav...more This book was really difficult for me to finish because I knew how it would end.

Much like The House of Sand and Fog, this is a novel that concentrates on the difficulties of our plural, interconnected world. Cultural, religious, socioeconomic, and ideological differences seperate us from our neighbors, from the people across the world, from our enemy. But are we really so different? Are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of our family, of our past, and of our nation?

The reader of this novel travels through the world with Hiroko, a survivor of the Nagasaki bomb in World War II. During the final days of the war, she falls in love with a German who dies in the blast. She then travels to Delhi to seek his sister. The narrative breaks at several times in the novel, following Hiroko to Istanbul, Karachi, New York City, and Afghanistan. Her world becomes inextricably tied to her late love's family.

The first half of the novel was a beautiful love story, filled with loss, hope, and new beginnings. The second half... turned ugly. The painful lessons from World War II are forgotten in a new generation filled with fighting, revolution, religious fundamentalism, and an inability to practice empathy. I appreciated the fact that the American perspective on huge world events was not the focus in this novel. Instead, Americans are the fringe players in a book filled with Pakistani, Indian, British, Japanese, and Afghani characters. I just found the conclusion of the plotline frustrating, disgusting. It felt like Kamila Shamsie says to her readers, "Look, there's nothing to be done, even if you do the right thing." A tiny glimmer of hope remains in the character of Abdullah, but for the majority, no one reaches an understanding or breakthrough of why things have transpired. So much is kept secret, so much is unknown to the characters... and even to the reader.

The book was artfully written. Definitely ambitious. Emotional. Worth reading, but be prepared to be heartbroken. And that heartbreak just continues when reading the paper or watching the news or talking to those around us... because even though these characters are works of fiction, they have their brethren in reality.(less)

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Sep 28, 2009 Ruby rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read so much, and so quickly, that it takes a rare exception of a book to send me searching for post-it notes and a pen to write down quotes from the writing. I found the writing in this book so compelling, that I stopped reading everything else for two whole days and just immersed myself in the story of a woman who finds herself in the midst of several acts of war in the lifetime. From Nagasaki where she is scared mentally and physically, to Delhi where she runs with her new husband from the...more

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Jul 20, 2009 Lanew-yorkaise rated it 5 of 5 stars

From http://lanew-yorkaise.com/

Maybe it’s because I spent a good part of my college years studying trauma and how people experience and record it; maybe because World War II and its fallout—both figurative and literal—is a topic I find myself drawn to again and again (my thesis was based on an oral history project I conducted that recorded the stories of college students-turned-soldiers in the ‘40s.) Maybe it’s because the writing is so damn lush, the characters so real. Whatever the reason, Ka...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hiroko Tanaka's life has been irrevocably marred by the American bombing of Nagasaki in the summer of 1945. Not only did she lose her father, village, and way of life, but also the young German artist Konrad, with whom she was beginning a relationship. After the kimono she was wearing in the blast becomes fused with her skin, she bears scars shaped like birds across her back. It is with these painful scars and memories that she leaves Japan, unable to find her place in society after the war. Hir...more Hiroko Tanaka's life has been irrevocably marred by the American bombing of Nagasaki in the summer of 1945. Not only did she lose her father, village, and way of life, but also the young German artist Konrad, with whom she was beginning a relationship. After the kimono she was wearing in the blast becomes fused with her skin, she bears scars shaped like birds across her back. It is with these painful scars and memories that she leaves Japan, unable to find her place in society after the war. Hiroko travels to New Delhi, where she meets Konrad's half-sister Ilse and her husband James, who agree to shelter her in honor of Konrad's memory. James employs an ersatz assistant, Sajjad, who is in reality only there to provide him amusement and company. When Hiroko and Sajjad begin to have feelings for each other, a set of events occurs that enmesh two families through the generations and take them across the ocean from India to Pakistan to America. Along the way they face the realities of the Partition of India, the nuclear threats of Pakistan, and the more modern struggle of terrorism in America. Fraught with the themes of cultural alienation and identity, Burnt Shadows gives an account of those whose lives are built despite and amidst the destruction of war.

The story was definitely powerful and emotional, but there was a lot there to digest. At times I think that the author overreached in portraying this story, with too many elements in close quarters. I understand that this story was meant to capture a large span of time and encompass several important cultural themes and events, but at times it felt like there were too many balls in the air at once.

The story and message in this book prompted me to put a human face to the complications that arise during war, not only governmental, but socially and personally. The moral and personal struggles of the characters as a whole were much more complex and at times more ambiguous than in any other novel I had read previously about war and it's impacts; at times, even my own opinions were muddy about certain aspects. Many of themes and conversations of this book revolved around the characters' feelings for their homeland, prior to and during war. Some things seemed very black and white while others were clothed in subtle shades of gray. In a way, the book shattered a lot of the preconceived notions that I had, not only about political hostilities, but about the effect they have on the future generations. When Hiroko and Sajeed's young son decides to get involved with a group of young Afghans who are training for guerrilla combat, it was hard for me to find an acceptable position to take. Was I to feel upset that the boy had flown into the arms of terrorism, or was I to understand that this was only a misguided attempt to find acceptance with a group of men who seemingly idolized him?

Some of the things I found interesting were not only the larger issues of cultural identity and societal belonging, but the smaller and finer character motivations and interactions that filled the pages. I think it would be too simple to focus on these things though. The issues that the book presents are meant to be much more oblique and all-encompassing than that, so I will just say that the variegated relationships, tensions, and conversations that these characters were embroiled in were both impressive and authentic. They lent a depth to the story that made it more interesting. The characters in this book inspired reaction, and whether it was frustration, anger or sympathy, I found myself being much more involved with them then I have with other characters while reading similar books.

The latter half of the book examines terrorism in a manner that I found compelling, and essentially gave several differing viewpoints of the issue from both the accused and the accuser. This was done in a manner I had not been expecting or familiar with and gave me even more to think about. The conclusion of the book left me stunned. I think that the author really did more to leave me embroiled and impassioned in the last few pages of the book then anywhere else. I wanted there to be a happy ending, but like life, the reality is that things sometimes end messily.

As I have said before, this is a book that made me do some deep thinking. Its story, characterization, and ultimately, its conclusion were multi-faceted and elaborate and I appreciated both the scope and density of the story that was told. I think this book definitely had a statement to make, on many levels, and it succeeded in a way that went beyond the boundaries of earnest storytelling. It was both a plausible and affecting read, and one that I ended up enjoying. Aside from the cluttered manner of the plot, I think that readers of historical fiction would really enjoy the wide range in this book, and those that like books that are character driven would also get a lot out of it. (less)

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Jul 25, 2011 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, japan, pakistan

This novel begins in Nagasaki where Hiroko is in love with a German, Conrad. They have just declared their love for each other when the atomic bomb is dropped, killing Conrad and burning Hiroko’s back with the pattern of her kimono. Eventually, Hiroko decides to leave Japan to find Conrad’s sister, Ilsa, who is married and living in Delhi. There she falls in love with a young Muslim and after their marriage, when they are refused re-entry to India because of partition, they settle in Pakistan, w...more

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Jan 24, 2009 A. Gamble rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advanced-reading-copies

Requested this ARC from the publisher because Rushdie reviewed it.
xx

Hiroko Tanaka is a wonderful character, and this is a brilliant work, highly appropriate to finish reading on the day Obama announced the closing of "Gitmo." To explain why would give away the entire story (difficult in an "epic" work, but possible with this one), so I'll just say this is a lovely work, diligently researched, brilliantly written and researched, and one that will ultimately break your heart.

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Jun 30, 2009 Annie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book, from the Orange Prize shortlist, has had terribly mixed reviews. How can a book that tries to tie together the bombing of Nagasaki, the partition of India, the Afghan conflict and 9/11 possibly work? Well, it does - I absolutely loved it. Hiroko is a wonderful character - she lives on the page in a way a character hasn't for me in ages, and she's the anchor that holds this enormous story together. The writing is quite beautiful - some of the imagery will really stay with me, but it re...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: india-background

India is just one of the countries in the background. Amazing how the author could take periods of crisis for so many nations and make you believe that one person experienced them all. Hiroko, marked by the bombing of Nagasaki, lives in New Delhi, Istanbul, Karachi (Pakistan), and New York City - at times of great fear and tragedy in each.

My credulity was tested at times, especially concerning her good friendship with the woman who accused Sajjad, the man who became her husband, of rape. And it...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bbc-recommended, post-9-11-narrative, historical-fiction-general, historicalfiction-wwii-postwar

Really more of a 4.5 rating. I'm going to wait and see on how much the story sticks with me.

This is a wonderful, intelligent, well-plotted, engaging story. I was going to just read a little bit last night, but couldn't put it down until I finished. Loved it. Going to buy it for friends and family.

Bottom line, read it. Maybe pair it with _Green-Eyed Thieves_, _On Beauty_, _Hiroshima Mon Amour_, or _The Emperor's Children_. Those were the titles I kept thinking of as I read.

So why not 5 stars?

With...more

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Jul 18, 2010 Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Burnt Shadows is a hugely ambitious novel, with a wide canvas and tackling some mighty themes. Kamila Shamsie's writing is so good though that it all works well. From the opening first chapter I was captivated by the characters and their worlds. We see Nagasaki in the aftermath of the atomic bomb in 1945, and where the book gets it title - an image I'll not get rid of for some time. From there we move to India during Partition and later Pakistan as Hiroko and Sajjad make a new life for themselve...more

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May 31, 2009 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sacramento-book-review

I am absolutely loving this book! Favorite quotes so far:

(On debates regarding the formation of Pakistan) And so it went on and on, and in each group Sajjad found those who made complete sense and in each group also those whose opinions made him want to scatter seeds over the speakers so the pigeons would swoop down and stop their words with a tumult of feathers.

(On the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki) ...he knew by her voice that he was going to hear something that she would sp...more I am absolutely loving this book! Favorite quotes so far:

(On debates regarding the formation of Pakistan) And so it went on and on, and in each group Sajjad found those who made complete sense and in each group also those whose opinions made him want to scatter seeds over the speakers so the pigeons would swoop down and stop their words with a tumult of feathers.

(On the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki) ...he knew by her voice that he was going to hear something that she would speak of to almost no one else. "There was the one about the girl whose dying father slithers towards her in the shape of a lizard; she is so horrified by his grotesqueness it takes her years to understand that his final act was to come towards her, after a lifetime of walking away. The one about the boy shaken out of his life and told that was a dream, and so was everyone he loved in it - this charred world, this prison, this aloneness is reality. The one about the purple-backed bookcreatures with broken spines who immolate themselves rather than exist in a world in which everything written in them is shown to be fantasy. The woman who loses all feeling, fire entering from her back and searing her heart, so it's possible for her to see a baby's corpse and think only, There's another one. The men and women who walk through shadow-worlds in search of the ones they loved. Monsters who spread their wings and land on human skin, resting there, biding their time. The army of fire demons, dropped from the sky, who kill with an embrace. The schoolteacher in a world where textbooks come to life; she cannot escape from the anatomy text, its illustrations following her everywhere - bodies without skin, bodies with organs on display, bodies that reveal what happens to bodies when nothing in them works any more."

...Hiroko was already bending over her husband and telling him to eat some toast.
"I'm dying," Sajjad said. "I'm dead already. I'm in hell."
"If this is hell why am I here?" Hiroko demanded, a hand on her hip.
Sajjad opened one eye.
"You've come to rescue me?" he said hopefully.
"Yes," she said. "With toast. Eat it and stop complaining, you silly drunkard."(less)

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About Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie is a Pakistani novelist, who writes in the English language. She was brought up in Karachi and attended Karachi Grammar School.

She has a BA in Creative Writing from Hamilton College, and an MFA from the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she was influenced by the Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali.

Kamila wrote her first novel, In The C...more

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Quotes from Burnt Shadows

“How to explain to the earth that it was more functional as a vegetable patch than a flower garden, just as factories were more functional than schools and boys were more functional as weapons than as humans.” — 9 people liked it

“The world won’t get more or less terrible if we’re indoors somewhere with a mug of hot chocolate,’ Kim said. ‘Though it’s possible it will seem slightly less terrible if there are marshmallows in the hot chocolate.” — 6 people liked it

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Burnt Shadows

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