I Left You Behind

Spanning several decades and three countries, these enchanting short stories dwell without sentimentality on lost homes and homelands, distant memories, and estranged family ties. Largely inspired by the author's own life experiences, they depict close parental bonds, poignant encounters, and personal tragedies and triumphs.

Injustice, the importance of education and a love of literature are recurring themes in the more autobiographical stories. At the age of thirteen in Pakistan, "the girl" is compelled to learn to read the Quran, without understanding its verses until adulthood. During a school year spent in Texas, she witnesses the ugly realities of racism and segregation. While at university in Pakistan, she visits a teen bride forced to observe purdah, to whom later she sends samples of English classical fiction hoping to inspire her, be a comfort and inspiration. Years later she goes to see her former philosophy professor in Oxford, with whom she shares her decision to become a writer.

These are tales of dislocation, relocation, and longing, evoking the physical and mental isolation made so tangible during the COVID pandemic. Rich in dialogue and description, the seventeen stories are Persian carpets, interwoven with numerous threads to produce a vivid tapestry of lived lives.