Promotional Information

A devastatingly moving, fast-paced and deeply resonant debut that goes to the heart of our times

About the Author

Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and grew up between Syria and Pakistan. She is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, was long listed for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction and the memoir about her father's life and assassination, Songs of Blood and Sword, was published to acclaim. Her most recent books are The Runaways, a novel, and New Kings of the World, a non-fiction reportage on popular culture and globalisation.

Reviews

Bhutto writes of an extraordinary place where beauty lives alongside brutality, with superb poise and a kind of defiant lyricism
*The Times*

Stunning . . . Few debut novels can adequately explore such colossal themes as betrayal and allegiance, or persuasively render fear, doubt and determination
*The National*

Incredibly ambitious, extremely powerful and moving
*Radio 4*

Stunningly worded
*Company Magazine*

Concise, elegant. Bhutto is a gifted and compelling writer, economically and poetically summoning up this beautiful mountainous backwater
*Mail on Sunday*

Powerful, compelling, moving inexorably to a devastating conclusion
*Sunday Express*

[Explores] the divisive split between those suffering from the direct consequences of war and a generation of unaware, complacent young Pakistanis
*Evening Standard*

A first novel of uncommon poise and acuity, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is set in an old and protracted war for land and dignity. But its swift and suspenseful narrative describes a fiercely contemporary battle in the human heart: between the seductive fantasy of personal freedom and the tenacious claims of family, community and history
*Pankaj Mishra*

An extraordinary first novel which reads like a politico-religious thriller. Compelling.
*Hector Abads*

This is (...) a human story, with love as well as ideology - Bhutto blends the two adroitly (and) writes with great poignancy, keeping the emotional pitch high
*Financial Times*