Long-listed for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, a lyrical novel set over the course of one morning in a small town in Pakistan Fatima Bhutto’s stunning debut novel chronicles the lives of five young people trying to live and love in a world on fire. Set during the American invasion of Afghanistan, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon begins and ends one rain-swept Friday morning in Mir Ali, a small town in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas close to the Afghan border. Three brothers meet for breakfast. Soon after, the eldest, Aman Erum, recently returned from America, hails a taxi to the local mosque. Sikandar, a doctor, drives to the hospital where he works, but must first stop to collect his troubled wife, Mina, who has not joined the family that morning. No one knows where Mina goes these days. But when, later in the morning, the two are taken hostage by members of the Taliban, Mina will prove to be stronger than anyone could have imagined. The youngest of the three leaves for town on a motorbike. An idealist, Hayat holds strong to his deathbed promise to their father—to free Mir Ali from oppressors. Seated behind him is a beautiful, fragile girl whose life and thoughts are overwhelmed by the war that has enveloped the place of her birth. Three hours later their day will end in devastating circumstances. In this beautifully observed novel, individuals are pushed to make terrible choices. And as the events of this single morning unfold, a family and a country are forever changed. “Brilliant . . . vivid . . . Anyone curious about this remote frontier region can experience its touch and feel, even its taste, through Bhutto’s portraits of its daily life.” —The New York Times Book Review

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Bhutto, Fatima

Literary

Penguin Publishing Group

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon

Penguin books.India

Whispers of the desert

This is a sparkling collection of some forty-five poems by the fifteen year old daughter of Murtaza Bhutto, who was gunned down during the premiership of his sister, Benazir Bhutto. Though written two or three years before the assassination, they are largely premonitory and speak of a life of loneliness and separation.

Whispers of the Desert

Poetry

Oxford University Press

Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir

In September 1996, a fourteen-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room, shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi. This was the evening that her father Murtaza was murdered, along with six of his associates. In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, Fatima's aunt, and the woman she had publically accused of ordering her father's murder, was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was the latest in a long line of tragedies for one of the world's best known political dynasties. "Songs of Blood and Sword" tells the story of a family of rich feudal landlords - the proud descendents of a warrior caste - who became powerbrokers in the newly created state of Pakistan. It is an epic tale full of the romance and legend of feudal life, the glamour and licence of the international political elite and ultimately, the tragedy of four generations of a family defined by a political idealism that would destroy them. The history of this extraordinary family mirrors the tumultuous events of Pakistan itself, and the quest to find the truth behind her father's murder has led Fatima to the heart of her country's volatile political establishment. It is the history of a nation from Partition through the struggle with India over Kashmir, the Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan up to the post 9/11 'War on Terror'. It is also a book about a daughter's love for her father and her search to uncover, and to understand, the truth of his life and death. It is a book about a family and nation riven by murder, corruption, conspiracy and division, written by one who has lived it, in the heart of the storm. "Songs of Blood and Sword" is a book of international significance by a young woman who has already established herself as a brave and passionate campaigner.

Nation Books

The Shadow Of The Crescent Moon

Penguin Export

The Runaways: The new ‘bold and probing novel’ you won’t be able to stop talking about

Bhutto's new novel will move you with its profound wisdom and sharp grasp of our turbulent times' Elif Shafak 'This is a bold and probing novel, from a writer strikingly alert to something small and true' Guardian______________________________ How far would you run to escape your life?Anita lives in Karachi's biggest slum. Her mother is a maalish wali, paid to massage the tired bones of rich women. But Anita's life will change forever when she meets her elderly neighbour, a man whose shelves of books promise an escape to a different world.On the other side of Karachi lives Monty, whose father owns half the city and expects great things of him. But when a beautiful and rebellious girl joins his school, Monty will find his life going in a very different direction. Sunny's father left India and went to England to give his son the opportunities he never had. Yet Sunny doesn't fit in anywhere. It's only when his charismatic cousin comes back into his life that he realises his life could hold more possibilities than he ever imagined. These three lives will cross in the desert, a place where life and death walk hand in hand, and where their closely guarded secrets will force them to make a terrible choice.______________________________ 'Highly topical . . . The Runaways offers an unflinching look at the key subjects of our time and the riveting story of three memorable characters' Financial Times'A shocking, moving, and deeply compassionate novel' Vogue 'Every page of this is priceless' Gary Shteyngart'A powerful and moving book. It is a book that anyone rushing to condemn young people for being radicalised should read' Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum 'As compassionate as it is trenchant, this rare fiction is an illuminating guide through the great disorder of our times' Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger'Dazzling . . . a novel that holds up to scrutiny a world of claustrophobic war zones, virulent social media and cities collapsing upon themselves, and then sets it down again, transformed by the grace of storytelling' Siddartha Deb, author of The Point of Return ______________________________ PRAISE FOR FATIMA BHUTTO'S PREVIOUS WORK:'It's clear that there is an ambitious literary mind at work...Bhutto's talent is evident, exciting' The New York Times Book Review'Bhutto is a gifted and compelling writer, economically and poetically summoning up this beautiful mountainous backwater' Mail on Sunday'Incredibly ambitious, extremely powerful and moving' BBC Radio 4

The Runaways

Romance

Military

VIKING

Genre Fiction

Viking/Penquin

'Bhutto's new novel will move you with its profound wisdom and sharp grasp of our turbulent times' Elif Shafak 
'This is a bold and probing novel, from a writer strikingly alert to something small and true' Guardian 
______________________________ 
How far would you run to escape your life? 
Anita lives in Karachi's biggest slum. Her mother is a maalish wali, paid to massage the tired bones of rich women. But Anita's life will change forever when she meets her elderly neighbour, a man whose shelves of books promise an escape to a different world. 
On the other side of Karachi lives Monty, whose father owns half the city and expects great things of him. But when a beautiful and rebellious girl joins his school, Monty will find his life going in a very different direction. 
Sunny's father left India and went to England to give his son the opportunities he never had. Yet Sunny doesn't fit in anywhere. It's only when his charismatic cousin comes back into his life that he realises his life could hold more possibilities than he ever imagined. 
These three lives will cross in the desert, a place where life and death walk hand in hand, and where their closely guarded secrets will force them to make a terrible choice. 
______________________________ 
'Highly topical . . . The Runaways offers an unflinching look at the key subjects of our time and the riveting story of three memorable characters' Financial Times 
'A shocking, moving, and deeply compassionate novel' Vogue 
'Every page of this is priceless' Gary Shteyngart 
'A powerful and moving book. It is a book that anyone rushing to condemn young people for being radicalised should read' Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum 
'As compassionate as it is trenchant, this rare fiction is an illuminating guide through the great disorder of our times' Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger 
'Dazzling . . . a novel that holds up to scrutiny a world of claustrophobic war zones, virulent social media and cities collapsing upon themselves, and then sets it down again, transformed by the grace of storytelling' Siddartha Deb, author of The Point of Return 
______________________________ 
PRAISE FOR FATIMA BHUTTO'S PREVIOUS WORK: 
'It's clear that there is an ambitious literary mind at work...Bhutto's talent is evident, exciting' The New York Times Book Review 
'Bhutto is a gifted and compelling writer, economically and poetically summoning up this beautiful mountainous backwater' Mail on Sunday 
'Incredibly ambitious, extremely powerful and moving' BBC Radio 4

Penguin Books, Ltd.

Penguin

In September 1996, a fourteen-year-old Fatima Bhutto hid in a windowless dressing room, shielding her baby brother while shots rang out in the streets outside the family home in Karachi. This was the evening that her father Murtaza was murdered, along with six of his associates. In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto, Fatima’s aunt, and the woman she had publically accused of ordering her father’s murder, was assassinated in Rawalpindi. It was the latest in a long line of tragedies for one of the world’s best known political dynasties. 
 Songs of Blood and Sword tells the story of a family of rich feudal landlords – the proud descendents of a warrior caste – who became powerbrokers in the newly created state of Pakistan. It is an epic tale full of the romance and legend of feudal life, the glamour and licence of the international political elite and ultimately, the tragedy of four generations of a family defined by a political idealism that would destroy them. The history of this extraordinary family mirrors the tumultuous events of Pakistan itself, and the quest to find the truth behind her father’s murder has led Fatima to the heart of her country’s volatile political establishment. It is the history of a nation from Partition through the struggle with India over Kashmir, the Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan up to the post 9/11 “War on Terror.” It is also a book about a daughter’s love for her father and her search to uncover, and to understand, the truth of his life and death. It is a book about a family and nation riven by murder, corruption, conspiracy and division, written by one who has lived it, in the heart of the storm. Songs of Blood and Sword is a book of international significance by a young woman who has already established herself as a brave and passionate campaigner.

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

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