When former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto comes home after years in exile to run once more for office, the country lights up in conflict and passions run high. Case in point: Ali Sikandar, a journalist assigned to cover Benazir's conflict-filled return. With his personal life in turmoil and his desire to study in the United States blocked at every turn, Ali is skeptical that any good could come of giving a second chance to someone whose first political term ended in such disgrace. Even so, he becomes part of a democratic resistance movement which teaches him some final lessons about the way his life has gone. Through the clever weaving of pieces from Ali's past and the distant past of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, author Bina Shah creates a very personal, deeply moving story in A SEASON FOR MARTYRS.

What I thought was going to be a vague cultural criticism novel turns out to be a fascinating character study and insight into the politics of Pakistan. The interpersonal relations between the journalists and Ali's family members are great. The layered emotions within Ali as he takes his emotional journey and joins the revolution are exquisite and absolutely relatable. This is a very well-written novel and I look forward to reading more by Bina Shah. The prose style is very straightforward and sprinkled with great information about the political situations. I love all the main characters and the fascinating play between them and everyone on the side.

It can be somewhat hard to understand given the jumps from various histories to the main story. Each piece is valuable in its own way, but the form of the story can be jarring if you prefer a linear narrative. I also found some problems understanding the historical and political events, but that comes more from my background than any issue with the book. If I had my druthers, I'd have a glossary of terms, something to allow for more understanding. However, I highly recommend A SEASON FOR MARTYRS to any who enjoys fascinating and rich novels which intertwine truth and fiction.

Book Summary

October, 2007. Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returns home after eight years of exile to seek political office once more. Assigned to cover her controversial arrival is TV journalist Ali Sikandar, the estranged son of a wealthy landowner from the interior region of Sindh. While her presence ignites fierce protests and assassination attempts, Ali finds himself irrevocably drawn to the pro-democracy People’s Resistance Movement, a secret that sweeps him into the many contradictions of a country still struggling to embrace modernity. As Shah weaves together the centuries-old history of Ali’s feudal family and its connection to the Bhuttos, she brilliantly reveals a story at the crossroads of the personal and the political, a chronicle of one man’s desire to overcome extremity to find love, forgiveness, and even identity itself.