ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Fifteen years after publishing her memoir, which revealed secrets about Pakistan’s most powerful political dynasty, Fatima Bhutto returns to share her personal story about experiencing abuse yet finding ways to survive and rebuild her life.
The Hour of the Wolf, Fatima Bhutto’s upcoming memoir, reveals details about her hidden battle with an abusive partner whom she mistakenly thought was showing her affection during their ten-year relationship.
The book marks the first time she has spoken publicly about the relationship. Bhutto expressed her lack of desire to pursue her writing of the memoir, according to her statements during her interview with British newspaper The Guardian.
“Because I felt ashamed, I felt embarrassed, I did feel all those kinds of things. But I also know that if I’d read something like this, it would have helped me.” Bhutto gained worldwide recognition through her 2010 memoir Songs of Blood and Sword, which described her life as the niece of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who belonged to Pakistan’s most prominent political family.
The book re-examined the Bhutto dynasty and held Benazir partly responsible for the murder of her father, Murtaza Bhutto. The new memoir recounts how Bhutto met her partner, referred to only as “The Man”, in New York in 2011 while she was touring for her first book.
She describes him as “uninhibited, blazingly sure of himself, beautiful, rugged, old-school masculine, a free spirit”. The couple maintained their relationship through long-distance communication, which continued for 11 years.
Fatima Bhutto writes that it suited her frequent travel for journalism, novels, and literary festivals, but says her partner became increasingly controlling, alternating between charm and cruelty.
Her partner demonstrated these behaviors through verbal abuse and public humiliation, combined with periods of silent treatment and disdain. “He would switch from dazzling to demonic without warning,” Fatima Bhutto said, adding that he gradually isolated.
