ina Shah’s latest publication, The Monsoon War, is divided into four parts that immerse the reader deep into the world of dystopian feminist discourse. The novel starts with bleak imagery, exposing readers to an almost apocalyptic world. “In the public square of a small town in Dhofar, three days’ drive away from Green City, a black veil hangs from the end of a lamppost. It flaps in the wind, a flock of crows, the sail of a pirate ship, rippling in the sky as twilight retreats and the black thread night approaches.” (Prologue) Shah laments the loss of humanity, freedom and equality, along with the rapidly growing environmental degradation in the novel.

Bina Shah – Karachi-born, a writer of Anglophone fiction and a journalist – belongs to a landowning family in Sindh and spent her formative years in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard University. In 2011, she was a fellow of the Iowa International Writing Programme. She is also the author of a children’s book and the story collection Blessings. In addition, she has written several Karachi novels: Where They Dream in Blue, 786 Cybercafe, and Slum Child. An unusual history is explored in A Season of Martyrs as well. (Muneeza Shamsie) Shah was a regular contributor to the International New York Times from 2015 to........

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