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A 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.

Ayukta 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.

Ayukta 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.

What would it mean, to impart an impossible burden? To withhold these incredible gifts?

Sweeping, deeply felt and intergenerational, A Thousand Times Before 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.

Through Ch. 5 / 30%

I'm doing every 5 chapters since there are 20

(view spoiler)[I don't know what to say about this one. I think the writing is absolutely beautiful and for her debut novel I'm really impressed! I would love to have some type of tapestry with symbols and stitching and words etc. to take me back to my roots. I love that idea! I wish I were talented enough to begin something like that but I don't stitch or sew. But I used to. lol

I love the relationships being developed and the past ones being told. It was so sad when Ba died and you can tell how much Amla misses her. She's turned into a rebellious little teenager. lol I would have been too afraid to disobey my dad and go to a party he told me not to attend! And, of course, she got caught.

MEN! Disgusting pig that Sharma is! It's funny how even a young girl who might not fully understand it, she knows when a guy is creepy and looking at her like she's "on the menu." Ugh... (hide spoiler)]

sorry, starting tomorrow!

No worries. I’m going to be finished with mine tonight, but I’m watching the Olympics so I probably won’t comment until tomorrow anyway.

Through Part 1

wow (view spoiler)[ imagine having a whole legacy of women with you to help you through moments in your life, to feel the comfort of them

I had no idea of these events and the violence breaks my heart
she was so young when she lost her mom and didn't know of the power of the tapestry. then to lose her father to her own movements - and they were intents of a young girl

I'm glad they gave us a hint of her adult life. she seemed settled after it all. but the last line was a warning for what's to come
(hide spoiler)]

through Part 2

that was short but no less heartbreaking
(view spoiler)[ the oldest feels the burden so much she draws her sister so beautiful - and her mother. Ugh, to then be gone from it. so heartbreaking

this writing really is beautiful and it paints the pictures and emotions well (hide spoiler)]

Part 2

(view spoiler)[ Yes, the writing is just gorgeous! I agree that it "paints the pictures and emotions" which is one reason I found the writing so beautiful. I love the tapestry and what it meant to the generations of women. They went through so much! I love how she found the "power" and the meaning behind the tapestry. Just so beautiful. :) (hide spoiler)]

Part 3

(view spoiler)[ wow that was a lot of information about that one part of the family. I was so sad for all of them - the loss of the older sister, the sacrifices of the mother, and the youngest daughter who didn't understand

I think I found the protests and the unrest a little confusing - maybe because our mc also found it confusing

interesting to see where this goes now (hide spoiler)]

and done

(view spoiler)[ I like that the two of them were discussing things at the end but the ending still felt abrupt. After so much history with every ancestor, I was sad we got so little of Nadya and Ayukta

I'm so glad the Alma and Fiza got to be together. I liked the aunt's advice of not letting just one moment define you (hide spoiler)]

Part 3

(view spoiler)[I felt the exact same way. Such heartbreaking things they all went through. It was rough reading for me in many parts. I think there was too much back and forth with the protests making them a bit off-putting/confusing for me too. I don't think it was because she was confused, at least not why I was. (hide spoiler)]

Finished

(view spoiler)[I have heard that said many times: Don't let one moment define you or other words meaning the same thing. I think that's so true too. I guess the ending was a bit abrupt, yes, but I liked that the two (Alma and Fiza) got together and gave a little hope. (hide spoiler)]