{"product_id":"a-thousand-times-before-isbn-9780593654644","title":"A Thousand Times Before","description":"\u003cb\u003e“A rich family saga about art and memory's power to inform the present, make peace with the past, and maybe even alter the future.” — Celeste Ng, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOur Missing Hearts\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Asha] Thanki reinvents generational memory, conjuring inheritance as a tapestry of love, trauma, and choices that echo through blood. A profoundly tender and complex debut that I didn't want to put down.\" — Sequoia Nagamatsu, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHow High We Go in the Dark\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA heartrending family saga following three generations of women connected by a fantastic tapestry through which they inherit the experiences of those that lived before them, sweeping readers from Partition-era India to modern day Brooklyn.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAyukta is finally sitting down with her wife Nadya to respond to a question she’s long avoided: Should they have a child? The decision is complicated by a secret her family has kept for centuries, one that Ayukta will be the first to share with someone outside their bloodline: the women in her family inherit a mysterious tapestry, through which each generation can experience the memories of those who came before her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAyukta invites Nadya into this lineage, carrying her through its past. She relives her grandmother Amla’s life: Once a happy child in Karachi, Amla migrates to Gujarat during Partition, witnessing violence and loss that forever shape her approach to marriage and motherhood. Amla’s daughter, Arni, bears this weight in her own blood in 1974, when gender equity and urban class distinctions divide the community as a bold student movement takes hold. As Ayukta unspools these generations of women—whole decades of love, loss, heartbreak, and revival—she reveals the tapestry’s second gift: the ability for each of these women to dramatically reshape their own worlds. Like all power, both fantastic and societal, this inheritance is more treacherous than it seems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat would it mean, to impart an impossible burden? To withhold these incredible gifts?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSweeping, deeply felt and intergenerational, \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e is a debut as poetic as it is propulsive, as healing as it is heartbreaking, as it examines what it means to carry our past with us and to pass it on. Rooted in a tender love story, and spun with a tremendous amount of care, this book is a rare, remarkable feat from an incredible new literary talent.\u003cb\u003eONE OF \u003ci\u003ePEOPLE\u003c\/i\u003e'S MOST-ANTICIPATED SUMMER BOOKS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A sweeping, moving saga.\"\u003cb\u003e — \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeople Magazine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Spanning three generations, Asha Thanki's captivating debut explores the legacies mothers pass on to their daughters--and the complicated responsibilities that accompany them. \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e is a rich family saga about art and memory's power to inform the present, make peace with the past, and maybe even alter the future.”\u003cb\u003e — Celeste Ng, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOur Missing Hearts\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweeping, emotionally powerful tale set against a backdrop of geopolitical strife, a novel about nothing less than self-determination, national identity and ancestral traumas.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star-Tribune\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A powerful tale of mothers and daughters that spans India across generations, \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before \u003c\/i\u003eby Asha Thanki beautifully illustrates the ripple effect our choices make.\"\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eReal Simple\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Glorious prose creates a grand…sweep of facts, fantasy, and intriguing characters.” \u003cb\u003e— \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An expansive and rich novel about generations of a family tackling love and grief. Thanki’s writing is beautiful and soft. She takes great care of her characters and readers in this debut.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eDebutiful\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This book is enlightening, touching, and deeply important.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eScreenrant\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Thanki threads her saga with rich themes, including mother-daughter tensions, the burden of inheritance, and the power of art. Readers won’t want this to end.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003ePublisher's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, *starred review*\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In expertly crafted prose, Thanki reinvents generational memory, conjuring inheritance as a tapestry of love, trauma, and choices that echo through blood. The memories within wormed their way under my skin and made me reflect about the collective of past lives that reside within all of us. A profoundly tender and complex debut that I didn't want to put down.\" \u003cb\u003e— Sequoia Nagamatsu, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHow High We Go in the Dark\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Thanki’s debut novel captures a multigenerational family shaped by the 1947 Partition and its bloodstained legacy. Featuring a queer couple at its center—and a queer ancestor and her forbidden lover in South Asia—the novel traces a tapestry that connects three generations of women as they navigate life in South Asia and America.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eElectric Literature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Asha Thanki’s compelling debut speaks to themes of loss, connection, inheritance and agency. Centering on a beautiful tapestry and a generations-old secret, the story showcases the legacies of these enduring mothers and daughters.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eMs. Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Utilizing art as a theme, Thanki successfully builds an engrossing and often-heartbreaking tale...Thanki is a new voice to definitely keep an eye on.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e — Library Journal, *starred review*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A sweeping, emotionally powerful tale set against a backdrop of geopolitical strife, a novel about nothing less than self-determination, national identity and ancestral traumas.”\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eThe Minneapolis Star-Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With tender lyricism, \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e takes us on a profound and intricately woven journey of matrilineal inheritance. What do we gain and lose when the past and present intertwine, and the future can be written, and how do live with the life, love, and regrets of all those who came before? A story of fate, and the remaking of destiny, as the larger forces of history try, but fail to break the brave women in Asha Thanki's story.\"\u003cb\u003e— Vanessa Chan, author of international bestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Storm We Made\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] powerful debut novel...Thanki's narrative brims with sensory detail: the flavors of mithai (sweets) in Amla's father's shop; the taste of chaash (buttermilk); the vivid colors of saris and dupattas worn by women and girls. Thanki also writes evocatively of Amla's loneliness, her longing for Fiza, and the difficulty of bridging the gap caused by distance and new experiences. Evocative, sweeping, and intimate, \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before \u003c\/i\u003eexplores Indian politics, the different ways to love a person, and the complexities of family: what we inherit, what we build for ourselves, and what we choose to keep.\"\u003cb\u003e — \u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e marks the arrival of a major new author. Thanki weaves a passionate portrayal of the stories mothers pass down through generations as well as the power of story to change our futures. This beautifully written generational epic features compelling characters, a propulsive plot, and readers will be reluctant to leave these women behind.\" \u003cb\u003e— Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe American Daughters\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In a debut as powerful as it is tender, Asha Thanki sculpts an unforgettable story of art, love, family, and home. \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a luminous vision of history, one you'll want to return to again and again. Follow this book's brave generations of heroines wrestling with fate and politics, and you'll appreciate not only the power of Thanki's imagination, but also the possibilities of your own.\" \u003cb\u003e— V. V. Ganeshananthan, author of \u003ci\u003eBrotherless Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Asha Thanki's \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before\u003c\/i\u003e is a tremendous debut with deeply interesting characters. It's a rare book that can delve so deeply and honestly into the complicated layers of love, power, motherhood, and obligation and still leave readers with a sense of optimism and hope. Beautiful!”\u003cb\u003e—Megan Giddings, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Women Could Fly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eAsha Thanki is an essayist and fiction writer. Asha’s work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Southern Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePlatypus Press\u003c\/i\u003e’ wildness, \u003ci\u003eThe Common\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCatapult\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHyphen\u003c\/i\u003e, and more. She is a Kundiman fellow and has received support through scholarships and grants from Sewanee Writers Conference, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Speculative Literature Foundation. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota. \u003ci\u003eA Thousand Times Before \u003c\/i\u003eis her debut novel.","brand":"Viking","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302756274405,"sku":"NP9780593654644","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593654644.jpg?v=1742928931","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/a-thousand-times-before-isbn-9780593654644","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}