Mastur's work, marked by a scathing, uncompromising realism, reveals a deep concern for the lives of ordinary people, especially women, who have been passed by in the rush for modernization. Her fiction also explores the political undercurrents that have shaped Pakistan's turbulent history and she examines the issues of minorities, a subject rarely touched on in Urdu fiction.

Cool, Sweet Water: Selected Stories (Pakistan Writers Series)

Literature & Fiction

Mastur, Khadija

Naqvi, Tahira

History & Criticism

Oxford University Press

In the wake of the Partition, a new country is born. As millions of refugees pour into Pakistan, swept up in a welter of chaos and deprivation, Sajidah and her father find their way to the Walton refugee camp, uncertain of their future in what is to become their new home. Sajidah longs to be reunited with her beloved Salahuddin, but her journey out of the camp takes an altogether unforeseen route. Drawn into the lives of another family-refugees like herself-she is wary of its men, particularly Nazim, the eldest son whose gaze lingers over her. But it is the women of the household whose lives and choices will transform her the most: the passionately beseeching Saleema, her domineering mother Khala Bi, the kind but forlorn Amma Bi, and the feisty young housemaid Taji. With subtlety and insight, Khadija Mastur conjures a dynamic portrait of spirited women whose lives are wrought by tragedy and trial even as they cling defiantly to the promise of a better future.

Promised Land

India Penguin Classics

Aliya lives a life confined to the inner courtyard of her home with her older sister and irritable mother, while the men of the family throw themselves into the political movements of the day. She is tormented by the petty squabbles of the household and dreams of educating herself and venturing into the wider world. But Aliya must endure many trials before she achieves her goals, though at what personal cost? Set in the 1940s, with Partition looming on the horizon, The Women's Courtyard cleverly brings into focus the claustrophobic lives of women whose entire existence was circumscribed by the four walls of their homes, and for whom the outside world remained an inaccessible dream. Daisy Rockwell's elegant and nuanced translation captures the poignance and power of Khadija Mastur's inimitable voice.

Women's Courtyard

Classics

The stories in this collection aim to enrich, whether it is Razia struggling to achieve the perfect love, or Fazlu, the young man who cannot conceive of divisiveness among the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in his village.

Cool, Sweet Water: Selected Stories

Contemporary

Kali for Women

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Books by Mastur, Khadija

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mastur, Khadija. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Cool, Sweet Water: Selected Stories (Pakistan Writers Series)

Promised Land

Women's Courtyard

Cool, Sweet Water: Selected Stories