The Cry Of The Nightingale
Growing up in small-town Punjab in Pakistan, all Rabiya ever wanted was
to read her books and then help others like her read and learn by becoming
a teacher. But her dreams are shattered when her father-her supporter and
confidant-passes away and her elder brother Faruk-the new man of the
house-stops her education and marries her off to an older man, Kareem,
from Lahore.
Kareem is an orthodox, loveless man with many rules, and Rabiya seeks
release in her old college novels and by sneaking off to the Punjab Public
Library with her neighbour Nazo, with whom she builds a deep friendship.
And then, she meets the charming Nabeel, Nazo's uncle, a man passionate
about poetry and literature, and suddenly she finds herself deep in love.
When Kareem discovers her secret and unleashes his fury, Rabiya finds the
courage to walk away. She seeks refuge first with Nabeel, and then with Bina,
who works with domestically abused women, but realizes in the end that she
will have to be her own refuge and pillar.
In The Cry of the Nightingale, Tahira Naqvi has written the poignant and
powerful story of every woman struggling for autonomy and intellectual
independence.
A hard-hitting expression of women's liberation and equal rights-set in Pakistan during and post the Zia-ul-Haq regime.
'A moving and deeply absorbing novel about a woman's quest for freedom. Set in Pakistan, this is a universal story.'-Syeda Saiyidain Hameed
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