‘The Runaways’, Fatima Bhutto’s second novel, tackles a tricky topic: how poverty and alienation can lead to extremism. Anita Rose, Sunny, and Monty, who make up the three runaways, come from very different backgrounds but have one thing is common: They are all unhappy with their lives and are looking for something better. It is this search and a promise of change that lead them to adopt radicalism and they end up at a jihadi training camp in Mosul, Iraq.
But we meet the three title characters much before that happens. Anita Rose lives in Karachi with her mother and brother in a small cement room. Monty, the son of one of Karachi’s wealthiest man, is in love with Lay- la and is ready to do anything for her, and Sunny, a motherless Paki- stani-origin Briton from Portsmouth, is desperate to realize his father’s dream, i.e. a life filled with security and luxury. Bhutto writes them each their own stories as they make their way from different cities to Mosul.
Bhutto seems to have given a lot of thought to her characters and their stories, besides minutely chronicling their eventual foray into radicalism. Through Monty, you get the idea that a life of comfort and privilege isn’t as interesting and glamorous as it’s made out to be. Anita Rose’s mother trying to force her to leave school and work as a domestic helper makes you sympathize with her and almost understand the choices she makes later on. And Sunny, who seems to be confused about many things in life, makes you realize that it’s easy to go astray when you can’t make sense of the things around you.
Though the narrative is slow and wobbly, the novel takes off when the stories start to converge. We urge you to have patience till then because, as the niece of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, it’s her understanding of politics that makes The Runaways feel very real. Also, having grown up in exile in Syria after her father’s assassination, and studying in the UK and the US, she brilliantly navigates the world of Islamist extremism.
However, The Runaways isn’t just a book about terrorism and radicalization. It’s also a story of how young people end up searching for a cause in life or redemption of sorts through religious violence when they feel out of place in their society and country. The overall effect of the book is in parts both under- and over-whelming but Bhutto’s ability to write sensitively and convincingly is what makes The Runaways a riveting read.
Book: The Runaways
Author: Fatima Bhutto
Genre:: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Published: October 24, 2018
Pages: 402, Hardcover
