Fatima Bhutto's father was murdered in 1996, along with six of his associates. Her aunt, Benazir Bhutto, the woman she accused of ordering her father's death, was assassinated in 2007. This text tells the story of a family of rich feudal landlords - descendents of a warrior caste who became powerbrokers in the new state of Pakistan.

Fatima Bhutto's stunning debut novel The Shadow of the Crescent Moon begins and ends one rain swept. Friday morning in Mir Ali, a small town in Pakistan's Tribal Areas close to the Afghan border. Three brothers meet for breakfast. Soon after, the eldest, recently returned from America, hails a taxi to the local mosque. The second, a doctor, goes to check in at his hospital. His troubled wife does not join the family that morning. No one knows where Mina goes these days. And the youngest, the idealist, leaves for town on a motorbike. Seated behind him is a beautiful, fragile girl whose life...