Bina Shah

In her Dystopian society, the government uses terror and technology to control its people, and women take multiple husbands to increase the female population.

About Bina Shah

BINA SHAH is a Karachi-based author of five novels and two collections of short stories. Her previous novel, A Season for Martyrs, was published in the U.S., France, and India to critical acclaim, while her forthcoming feminist dystopian novel, Before She Sleeps, will be published by Delphinium Books in August 2018. A regular contributor to The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Huffington Post, and a frequent guest on the BBC, she has contributed essays and op-eds to Granta, The Independent, and The Guardian, and writes a regular column for Dawn. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is an honorary fellow in writing at the University of Iowa. She advocates for issues of women’s rights and female empowerment in Pakistan and across Muslim countries.

Read BookTrib’s review of Bina’s book, Before She Sleeps.
BOOKS: A Season for Martyrs  Slum Child Before She Sleeps

Books by Bina Shah

Before She Sleeps

Testimonials

” Riveting and articulate, A Season for Martyrs by Pakistani journalist Bina Shah is the author’s debut novel for an American readership and clearly denotes her ability to deftly craft and complex story of suspenseful twists and unexpected turns that holds the reader’s total attention from beginning to end. Very highly recommended for personal reading lists.
- Buzzfeed, “10 Amazing Female Novelists Under 50”
” History and memory have long fingers that reach into the present and beyond and in A Season for Martyrs Shah’s characters navigate that tenuous space between worlds beautifully.
- The Toronto Review of Books
” With Bina Shah’s excellent writing and her skill as a storyteller, A Season for Martyrs becomes a haunting, memorable homage — to Sindh, to Bhutto, to the unnamed martyrs of a beautiful land.
- New Indian Express
” We suspect she will continue to inform, inspire and — most importantly — bring her two worlds, Pakistan and America, together.
- India.com
” A complex and captivating novel.
- Asialyst.com
” Shah writes with grace and fluency, and it is clear from the start that her book reflects a maturity in style and skill at plot management that are the hallmarks of the seasoned writer. Shah writes about her native soil as only an insider can. What gives the novel additional warmth and luster is the manner in which she portrays legendary Sindhi heroes.
- Midwest Book Review
” Good reading, urgently and cleanly told, for those interested in world events, as well as issues of identity.
- Bapsi Sidhwa, author of Cracking India
” Listen to the voice of Bina Shah — you will hear a young, confident, compassionate new Pakistan.
- Professor Akbar Ahmed, author, playwright, poet, and Chair of Islamic Studies at American University
” Shah’s novel is both fascinating and eye-opening.
- Publishers Weekly
” Shah writes with grace and fluency.
- Muftah.org