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Book Review of Burnt Shadows

Burnt Shadows
Burnt Shadows
Author: Kamila Shamsie
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
Jennmarie68 avatar reviewed on + 217 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


This is a story that follows Hiroko through her life. The story starts in Japan during WWII and ends in 2002. We follow Hiroko as she loves, loses, and ages. While the events in history play second to the story there are many things that Hiroko deals with: the bombing in Nagasaki, the split of India and Pakistan, 9/11. The characters are well rounded, and as the story jumps from one to the other we really get a sense of who these people are and what emotions they are dealing with. I became connected to just about all of the characters.

The story is well written, the descriptions were a bit much in some places, but the pictures that Shamsie is able to paint with words are breathtaking. Her use of reacurring themes makes the story really go full circle. Her ability to take monumental events in history and make them the basis of Hiroko's life, without making the story simply about the history is a feat.

A good read. There were parts that read a little slow, but there weren't many and the story is compelling enough to pull you through them.