THE LADY OF SOHANBELA

Author: IRSHAD ABDULKADIR

The principal character, Kamila, is the sole heir to the hereditary seat of a Sufi Saint located in a riverine area in the rural hinterland of Pakistan. Her liberal outlook and lifestyle are the outcomes of an urban upbringing and Westernized academics. The final wish of her long-suffering mother that she observe familial duties by maintaining and upholding the centuries-old family shrine that has a subcontinental following, requires Kamila to marry the leading landowner of the region. The tensions and conflicts inherent in such a situation are the well-springs of the narrative which plays out against European, American, and Pakistani backdrops.