Talking Books with Fatima Bhutto and George Alagiah

Internationally acclaimed writer Fatima Bhutto talks to George Alagiah. Growing up as a member of the Bhutto political dynasty, in 1996 at the age of 14 Fatima saw her father assassinated – and subsequently blamed his murder on her aunt Benazir Bhutto in her first book, Songs of Blood and Sword. Described as an epic tale full of romance, intrigue and tragedy, the characters in Bhutto’s novel are richly drawn. Her second book The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is set along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan and tells the story of characters living against a backdrop of conflict as they choose hope over love and the future over the present. Her latest novel The Runaway charts the lives of three people from different backgrounds who meet at a Jihadi training camp near Mosul, and paints a vivid picture of how the restlessness of youth can easily be exploited.