So, I created a NetGalley account because I wanted to be able to read ARCs. And I know I needed to build up my profile with reviews before I can request the books that I wanted. So I set out to browse through the read now section and the minute I came across this, I knew this was going to be it - My first ARC!
The compelling blurb, its setting in India, and the beautiful cover all played a part in my decision and I'm so glad I picked this book up.

Nadya wants a baby, but Ayukta is unsure. Nadya is supportive but is unaware of her partner's true reasons. One evening, Ayukta decides to tell Nadya a story. A story of her mother and one of her grandmother.

Eleven year-old Amla lives in pre-partition Karachi with her ba and bapu. She has an innocent childhood, spending her evenings on the balcony sucking on Kulfis, comforted by the consisten rhythm of her life. Little does she know how drastically her life will change in a matter of months. Of how she would have to pack her entire life, leave her closest friend behind and move away. She also is surprised when she learns of the existence of an ancestral tapestry. And how when her name is sewn into it, she will be able to access the memories of every women that came before her. Of the power that this tapestry gives her.

The next storyline is that of Arni's, Arni is the youngest child and grows up shadowed by her siblings, Vibha and Anurag. She yearns for the attention her mother showers on Vibha and envies the closeness between Vibha and Anurag. Growing up with parents who don't love each other, she feels lost about her identity and rebels against her uncertain surroundings. She doesn't realize that soon she will be entrusted with the responsibility she has always wanted, but with consequences she didn't ask for.

This is a fantastic debut by Asha Thanki. It is well researched, and incredibly well written offers such real and vivid descriptions. The author expertly explores lives of women set during major historical events in India. It explores the power imbalance between men and women, it explores the cultural and religious tension and I think its so important that more people read it.

The book will make you think about and the life and experiences of your mother. It will make you contemplate about the women in your family and the profound impacts of their experiences. It reminds that you are shaped by the collective experiences and sacrifices of those who came before you.

The tone of the narratives for these women initially seemed somewhat alike, but as the story unfolds, each women is realized fully, materialized by her decisions and even her mistakes. Amla grows up sheltered with loving parents, while Arni's childhood is starkly different, with parents that get an arranged marriage - for stability and not love. It offers insight into how the environment you grow up in, the people around you and even the societal norms at the time will shape your identity.

Ultimately, this is a beautiful story of womanhood and motherhood, set against the backdrop of India's tumultuous partition era. It is a tale that is both moving and thought-provoking.

Thank you to Viking and Asha Thanki for an advanced copy of this book.

BLURB
Ayukta is finally answering her wife’s, Nadya’s question; should they have a child together? In order to make this decision, Ayukta feels she needs to tell Nadya about the women who came before her and the gift that has given to her from them.

This is a touching intergenerational story about lineage, heritage, heartbreak, and love. Being able to be brought through each generation of the women of this story was a beautiful way of helping me understand the decision the character are making now, It makes you think abut the lives lived before you and how they come together to shape who you are.

This was an interesting story and it was great to see how generational dynamics work especially between women. They were all so vastly different and it was quite the ride having the past and the present blend together seamlessly. Would highly recommend this read.

ARC Review
My Rating- 4.5 Stars


WOW WOW WOW! . What a captivating story. I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this novel. This was a multi-generational story about motherhood and family. All the characters were well liked even tho flawed and I think that their flaws made you love them even more. The writing was beautiful and lyrical. I'm definitely going to order the book so I can have a hardcopy on my shelf.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki was a brilliant, creative and fun story.
Thanki masterfully balances a propulsive and poignant story creating a narrative that is as entertaining as thought-provoking.
Once I started reading A Thousand Times Before, I could not stop. These characters are wonderful, and the story keeps unfolding in a gorgeous way.
Each of her characters felt real, and by the last page of the book I truly felt that I had known each character my whole life. This book is without a doubt one of my top 10 reads.

Thank You NetGalley and Viking for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

A captivating generational story surrounds three generations of women through a magic tapestry. The story has all the feelings and much of the it is relateable. We get to know the women through different timelines which flow well. I enjoyed the book and enjoy stories like this. There is a bit of magical realism but it does not feel too strong. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review the book.

Wow-what an amazing debut novel! Imagine you could experience all your relatives' lives and memories through the magic of a special tapestry? What a great way to learn about your family similar to the current accounts of oral histories, as well as to explore intergenerational trauma. This multifaceted saga starts in the 1940s in India and runs up to present day Brooklyn, where Ayukta is discussing her future plans with her wife Nadya. While discussing whether or not to have children, Ayukta starts to tell Nadya about her family history and the gift of the tapestry. 
The book is written as a dialogue between Ayukta and Nadya, as the histories of her ancestors unfold. Not only is this a fascinating history lesson, but you learn about the sacrifices these women made for their children and how that impacted future generations. The author did a lot of research and fully immerses you in each timeframe and culture down to the minute details.
It's touching, well written, and you feel a special bond with Ayukta and Nadya as they use this information to navigate their present day world. Highly recommended!!

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This was a multi-generational story of mothers and daughters who pass down the ability to change the future by painting on a tapestry. It was set, at least the first generation, during the Partition of India and has a steep magic realism bent. I thought the prose was lyrical, but it did move a bit slow for me because we weren’t working toward an obvious climax, which is fine, but it took me a while to finish because once I put it down I wasn’t propelled to pick it up again.

All in all, it was a beautiful story about motherhood and family. I embarrassingly haven’t read a book yet set in this time period, so I learned a lot. All the female characters were lovable but also clearly flawed. I would recommend

This novel follows one family over several generations, starting with India’s Partition and the creation of Pakistan. The maternal line has a tradition in which they pass down a tapestry, which can link them to their shared history. Like a link in a weave, they are connected to the past and future. They are one with the whole.

This fantasy seems like a metaphor for oral history and even epigenetics. The story's pacing is compelling, and though the family faces numerous struggles, the author maintains a sense of hope. I would recommend this book.

Ayukta inherited a tapestry that has been passed down by women in her family for generations, and with this tapestry come the abilities to experience the memories of the women before her and to shape her own future through creating art. A Thousand Times Before begins with Ayukta explaining these gifts to the first woman outside of the family: her wife, as they discuss if they should have a child or not.

The story mostly follows Ayukta’s grandmother, Amla, who was a child during the Partition, and all the heartache she faced during that era. The tapestry is an allegory for how trauma is passed down from generation to generation, but love and resilience are also inherited. As Amla grows up and has her own daughters, she fosters in them wisdom and responsibility that Ayukta must now grapple with and decide if this is a burden or gift she would want to pass on her to child.

A Thousand Times Before is as serious as it is tender, and I finished it thinking about how many of my own memories, anxieties, and quirks come from family members before me. Modern individualism can be such a blight. It’s refreshing to remember that none of us are completely isolated—that we have been shaped by people before us and our lives will shape those who come after us.

**Features:**
- A story about the memories and burdens we carry through the generations and the power they carry.
- Multi-generational tale that spans from Partition-era India to current day America
- A lyrical historical fiction piece with an element of magical realism
- Explores themes of family, grief, inheritance, and belonging

The women in Ayukta’s family are connected by more than just blood. Through the magic of a tapestry that has been handed down for generations, they can relive the memories of all the women who came before them. This inheritance that is both a gift and a burden weighs heavily on Ayukta as she decides whether to start a family of her own. This book is beautifully written and cleverly structured to tell an emotional, multi-generational tale. Despite focusing on multiple characters throughout the story, I found it easy to follow Ayukta’s narration and I enjoyed seeing how the memories she is sharing are guiding her own thought process. This book contains a lot of culturally specific terminology that readers who are unfamiliar with Indian cultures might not know and can be overwhelming for some readers. However, I think this is a phenomenal and impactful piece that I would highly recommend!

**A unique structure that makes the story expansive but easy to follow**

Ayukta knows that her wife Nadya wants to have children. However, the ability to relive ancestral memories and the power that comes with it is a burden that Ayukta is not sure she wants to risk passing on. In the hopes of helping Nadya understand both her power and her burden, Ayukta begins to tell her the tale of her grandmother, Amla, and mother, Arni. But will the revelations in store bring Nadya and Ayukta closer together, or will it be the final blow that tears them apart?

Though this book follows multiple characters, it is narrated by Ayukta as she is sharing these memories with Nadya. As a result, Amla’s and Arni’s stories are told through the third person with occasional inserts from Ayukta sharing her personal thoughts in the moment. There is just enough to remind you that the stories you are reading are connected to a present day moment and have greater meaning without distracting from the stories being told. However, what I found most impressive is that even though there are only three main characters (Amla, Arni, and Ayukta), this book still manages to capture the sense of a deep, expansive lineage. Through each character’s use of the tapestry, we feel connected to far more individuals in a way that is meaningful without feeling overwhelming. Both the imagery and concept behind this ability are incredibly impactful and it is executed extremely well.

**A strong and unapologetic identity**

On top of Ayukta’s narrative style, this book also has a strong cultural identity. Ayukta’s family is from India and her first story throws you right into pre-partition era India (Hindustan). Everything from what Amla eats to what she wears is representative of the places and time she is living in. I love how this story fully and accurately embraces the culture of its characters and how this identity is made to shift through each character’s experiences. Though it does not really explain what a lot of the culturally specific elements are (nor should it), I feel there are enough small hints to immerse readers who are unfamiliar. Still, it is worth noting that this book has a strong narrative and cultural identity that might not naturally speak to all readers.

Some books you read because you enjoy revisiting a familiar story or trope or genre. And some books you read because they give you something new. Something different. Something special. A Thousand Times Before is one of those books. While the topics explored (intergenerational dynamics; family trauma; mother/daughter dynamics; finding one’s sense of self; among others) are not new, the premise of the book sets up such a fascinating way to explore those topics that it doesn’t read like the same old book.

The idea of passing on all of the memories of the women that came before you is both an interesting conceit, and a beautiful way to explore how we come to know ourselves, how we juggle life’s weightier ethical dilemmas, and how we make decisions about our question are raised with such care and nuance. The arguments in the story over the “right way” to voice ones concerns and who has power are as relevant today as ever. Layering in questions of what it means to have the power to pass on these memories, to literally draw on your ancestry to build your future, and to one day pass it on to the next generation are a clever way of exploring how our past shapes us and how we shape the future.

This book is probably one of my favorites of the year. And I cannot recommend it highly enough.

(P.S. This may also have been the first time I’ve seen Gujarati in text instead of Hindi and it made me so happy..)

Thank you to NetGalley and author Asha Thanki for allowing me to read this for an honest opinion.
As the story opens we meet Ayukta and Nadia, a married couple discussing having children, and Ayukta’s hesitation each time the subject comes up. This is a story of why. In her younger years Ayukta’s mother introduced her to the generational tapestry. A beautiful work of art chronicling the maternal members of her family for hundreds of years. This tapestry is not just fabric and thread, it has all the memories of the women who have come before woven into it.
We read as Ayukta starts her story with her great grandmother Amla and all that she had to endure, moving on to her Aunt, and finally her mother. This woven fabric holds secrets and only after age 10 will it be passed down and the new keeper then can see all that went in before her. “Can you imagine what it’s like to live the very lives that came before yours? It is the greatest gift I could ever have and the greatest burden as well”. It is said that we learn from the past, if we truly do, what will Ayukta Decide in the end? Read on to find out..
I give this book 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, Viking Books and Asha Thanki for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Thousand Times Before.
This is a heartbreaking family story following three generations of strong, yet different, women connected by their deep love and a tapestry that inspires their experiences of those that lived before them. Female bonds are so strongly felt along with mother, sister, and daughter love and disagreement. These bonds are so strongly felt in this story and how important these feelings are in decision making for the future. Sometimes these bonds stifle decision making too. The writing is beautiful and kept me connected to the multiple families an timelines.
I was a bit confused with the multiple character names, genders. places and customs. This vocabulary kept me on the sidelines and I was not totally comfortable and immersed in the story I also wanted more character development, although emotions were definitely strong, I wanted more everyday life and less drama and hardship,

A lovely, imaginative book with an interesting conceit: generations of women are connected by a tapestry that allows them to access one anothers' memories. This is the speculative "backbone" that allows us access into a story of three generations of women: one forced to migrate because of the 1947 Partition of India (Amla), one living amidst the 1974 student protests in Gujarat (Arni), and one in the present day (our narrator.
The story is told in the form of the narrator telling her story about the tapestry and why she is hesitant about having a child. I found this frame narrative was a touch less compelling because there wasn't as much infrastructure built in knowing the present-day characters, but I nevertheless found it a good-enough device for telling the story. Additionally, I found myself wishing for a bit more about the narrator/Nadya's queerness, especially as it connected to the Fiza/Amla storyline which I thought was done very well.

Overall, a wonderful work of historical fiction. As someone who knows little about the partition and history in India / Gujarat, I also found the text informative and compelling, and its synthesis of speculative and realist elements executed well.

Focused on three generations of women from Partition-era India to modern day New York City, Asha Thanki’s robust and compelling debut speaks to themes of gender, loss, connection, inheritance and agency. The book begins with a reluctant Ayukta finally ready to answer her wife Nadya’s question about having children by sharing a generations-old secret kept within the women of her family. Centering on a beautiful tapestry, the story unfolds from Ayukta’s grandmother’s childhood, through violence and division, to the resistance and love that infuses the legacies of these enduring mothers and daughters.

Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I rated this book 3./5 stars.
This book follows three women in one family lineage through an especially tumultuous time of India’s history. The story is told by Ayukta to her wife Nadya, as she shares her family’s history and the family’s secret- all of the women in the family are connected via a magical tapestry. The plot is heavily character centric, with themes of inheritance, womanhood, and healing generational trauma.
The story felt at odds with the different elements- the stories of the past women, the historical elements, and the present day story of Ayukta and Nadya. The way that these three elements competed left none of them feeling fleshed out enough. I found the pacing to be odd, and most often too slow, as well as the overall flow of the book to be uneven. The majority of the book is spent focusing on Amla’s childhood, which leaves the rest of the book feeling rushed. The historical elements were of great importance to the characters, but much of the context was shared through exposition from our narrator. This would have been more engaging if the characters were more integrated into that part of the story. However, this separate third person perspective was very intentional and integral to this storytelling style of the book. For me personally, it left me feeling disconnected from both the narrator and the women she was talking about.
Overall, this book was a slow and character driven exploration. Some of the quotes and topics were thought provoking and the author frequently made some beautiful sentiments. However, the glacial pacing and the lack of feeling connected to the narrator or her family left me feeling unfulfilled after reading this book. However, this still might appeal to fans of light historical fiction and slow character focused stories with little overarching plot.

This was so good! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. We love an African mythology and a beautiful word built into the story.

I absolutely loved this - the voice of Ayukta immediately pulled me into this enchanting story of a tapestry that connects generations of women together. The stories of Amla, Arni, and Ayukta each stood on their own, but woven together were even more compelling. Thanki also really brings the historical milieus to life - I did not know much about the India/Pakistan Partition, or the 1974 Gujarat student protests, but they are very evocative in this novel and now I'd like to go learn more.

This book follows a lineage of women who have the gift to access the memories of their mother (and the generations of women before her) through a tapestry. The story takes the perspective of four women and spans many decades, beginning in pre-partition India and ending in 21st century New York.

The turmoil of events that characters experience was really interesting - I learned a lot about a history that I didn't know much of before - but the heart of the story is really the strength of female love, between mother and daughter but also sisters, friends, spouses, aunts, etc.

The message of this book was powerful, and made me think. How much of myself comes from my mother, and the mothers before her? The story brings out this sense of a sort of aching connection with all of the generations of women who have come before you. I can tell that this feeling will sit with me for a long time after finishing this book.

Lastly, the writing itself was lovely. The book used a frame narrative, in which the narrator was telling the story of the tapestry to her wife. The bulk of the story, which was of the lives of the previous three women to be stitched onto the tapestry, was in third person while the frame was written as the narrator speaking to her wife.

Loved and would definitely recommend this book.