Book cover of Burnt Shadows

Book description

Kamila Shamsie's Burnt Shadows is a story for our time by "a writer of immense ambition and strength. . . . This is an absorbing novel that commands in the reader a powerful emotional and intellectual response" -Salman Rushdie.

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
An Orange Prize Finalist

Nagasaki,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Burnt Shadows as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book about a survivor of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb brings the suffering of victims to life, while painting a picture of the strength of the human spirit to overcome unimaginable trauma. It also explores the politics and social stresses at the time of Partition in India, another world-changing event. It is beautiful, heart-breaking and thought-provoking.

If you love Burnt Shadows...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like Burnt Shadows?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 11 books like Burnt Shadows.

Browse books like Burnt Shadows

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Burnt Shadows, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…