Description

This compelling, breath-taking read for fans of AMERICAN DIRT will make you question everything you thought you knew

One of the ‘most important and prescient’ books – Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes, The High Low

‘Bhutto’s new novel will move you’ – Elif Shafak
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On the cusp of adulthood, three young people are about to make the most momentous decision of their lives.

Anita lives in Karachi’s slums – fearful that her fate is to serve the rich, until an elderly neighbour offers her an escape into another world . . .

Monty belongs to Karachi’s elite – his future is mapped out, until he meets a beautiful, rebellious girl . . .

Sunny is a Portsmouth teenager – he is suffocated by the love and expectation of his father, until his charismatic cousin shows him a way to be his own man . . .

These three paths are about to collide.

And when they do, Anita, Monty and Sunny will find themselves at the mercy of powers beyond their control, and faced with a choice that will change them forever.
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‘This is a bold and probing novel from a writer strikingly alert to something small and true’ Guardian

‘Bhutto’s new novel will move you its profound wisdom and sharp grasp of our turbulent times’ Elif Shafak

‘A shocking, moving, and deeply compassionate novel’ Vogue

‘Every page of this is priceless’ Gary Shteyngart

‘Stunning’ Sunday Times

‘Highly topical . . . The Runaways offers an unflinching look at the key subjects of our time’ Financial Times

‘A timely read that does a brilliant job of depicting the human cost when violence shifts from abstraction to reality’ Mail on Sunday

‘An illuminating guide through the great disorder of our times’ Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger

‘Powerful and moving … A book that anyone rushing to condemn young people for being radicalised should read’ Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum

‘Provocative and resolutely compassionate’ Traveller

Publisher Review

Provocative and resolutely compassionate * Traveller * A timely read that does a brilliant job of depicting the human cost when violence shifts from abstraction to reality * Mail on Sunday Event Magazine * An unflinching look at generational ambition and betrayal * inewspaper * An incisive and empathetic study of adolescent alienation and the social conditions that drive radicalisation * Tank Magazine * Highly topical . . . The Runaways offers an unflinching look at the key subjects of our time and the riveting story of three memorable characters * Financial Times * A shocking, moving and deeply compassionate novel * Vogue * A big-hearted, beautiful novel. I read it with awe. Fatima Bhutto has an unflinching eye and a unique voice. -- Mohammed Hanif, author of 'A Case of Exploding Mangoes' The Runaways is a book we should all read for it holds up a clear mirror to the way societies in many parts of the world are shaping, moulding, distorting and deforming the young. It is a book we all need. -- Jerry Pinto, author of 'Em and the Big Hoom' The themes of radicalism (of all sorts) is a thread that runs through the lives of the characters representing the complexity of ideology and the perpetual human search for meaning. Eloquent and erudite...a treat to read -- Rafia Zakaria, author of 'The Upstairs Wife' Bhutto's heady narrative flits through time and space with a sense of urgency, tracing three disparate young lives, each drawn into the realms of radicalisation, amid the dust of the Iraqi desert * Vogue * Dazzling . . . a novel that holds up to scrutiny a world of claustrophobic war zones, virulent social media and cities collapsing upon themselves, and then sets it down again, transformed by the grace of storytelling -- Siddartha Deb, author of 'The Point of Return' As compassionate as it is trenchant, this rare fiction is an illuminating guide through the great disorder of our times. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of 'Age of Anger' A powerful and moving book. It is a book that anyone rushing to condemn young people for being radicalised should read. -- Anne Youngson, author of 'Meet Me at the Museum' Every page of this is priceless. I can't think of a better guide through the world we live in. I've never used the word "transformative" before, but I just did now. -- Gary Shteyngart This is a bold and probing novel, from a writer strikingly alert to something small and true * Guardian * A tender, powerful and richly embroidered novel from a courageous storyteller. From Karachi's slums to England's promises, (through connected cities and intersecting destinies), Bhutto's new novel will move you with its profound wisdom and sharp grasp of our turbulent times. Behind The Runaways, there is clearly a brilliant mind and a generous heart at work. -- Elif Shafak