The U.S. literary debut of an up-and-coming Pakistani novelist and journalist. The last three months of Benazir Bhutto's life - from her arrival back in Pakistan on October 18, 2007, to her untimely death in a shooting-cum-suicide bombing on December 27th- is told through the eyes of a young television journalist in Bina Shah's intense confessional novel A Season for Martyrs. The estranged son of a wealthy landowner from the interior region of Sindh, Ali Sikandar, is assigned by his producer to cover the arrival of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader who has returned home to Karachi after eight years of exile to take part in the presidential race. But Ali finds himself swept up in events larger than his individual struggle for identity and love when he joins the People's Resistance Movement, a civil group that opposes the current government of President Musharraf, the benevolent dictator turned strongman. Amidst deadly terrorist attacks, protest marches and rallies in favor of and against Bhutto, this contemporary narrative thread weaves in flashbacks that chronicle the history of Ali's own feudal family and its connection to the Bhutto family. As Shah illustrates with extraordinary depth the many contradictions of a country that still struggles to fully embrace modernity, Ali's life opens in a new direction and the young man rediscovers love, the desire to fight and the power to forgive his father.
The U.S. literary debut of an up-and-coming Pakistani novelist and journalist.
Ali Sikandar is assigned to cover the arrival of Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader who has returned home to Karachi after eight years of exile to take part in the presidential race. Already eager to leave for college in the U.S. and marry his forbidden Hindu girlfriend, Ali loses a friend in a horrific explosion and finds himself swept up in events larger than his individual struggle for identity and love when he joins the People's Resistance Movement, a group that opposes President Musharraf. Amidst deadly terrorist attacks and protest marches, this contemporary narrative thread weaves in flashbacks that chronicle the deep and beautiful tales of Pakistani history, of the mythical gods who once protected this land. Bina Shah, a journalist herself and now a NYT op-ed writer, illustrates with extraordinary depth and keen observation into daily life the many contradictions of a country struggling to make peace with itself.
"Listen to the voice of Bina Shah- you will hear a young, confident, compassionate new Pakistan. Her latest novel not only sparkles with wit and wisdom but is a deeply moving paean to the power of love for the author's Pakistani culture and people."
