Saira, Areen, Ashar and Usman dreamed of leaving Pakistan and building new lives far from the shadows of their past.

For years, the group has harboured a terrible secret, one that poisons Areen from within and pulls the others apart.

Tour Dates : Monday 10^th August- Sunday 16^th August
Publisher: The Dreamwork Collective
Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction
Pages: 298
Instagram Handle: @safinah.danishelahi

They have tried to outrun that night, to forget what was lost and what they did – but the past has a will of its own. Now scattered across continents, the friends find that some histories cannot be left behind.

When Areen’s life is – once again, it seems – in jeopardy, the other three are pulled back into her orbit. Old wounds resurface and each of them must face the truth about their friendship, who they were, what they became, and the things they can never undo.

My Review

Chasing Shadows in Borrowed Light is all about relationships, guilt and secrets. The four main characters have been friends from their youth and can never really break the bond that ties them. All because of one night and what they did.

Saira and Areen are still freinds, though they live across continents. Areen is an artist in America, while Saira still lives and works in Pakistan in the film industry. Areen is vulnerable and needy, but eventually we understand why. It does not make for easy reading.

Usman is still in love with Saira even though he fled Pakistan straight after that night to go to university in America. His family didn’t want him involved in something that could damage his future career. He married someone else and he truly loves her. So did Saira, but after having two children together, they split up.

Asher is my favourite character in the book. He was also friends with Areen, but he moved to Australia.

We follow all four as their lives intertwine again after more than a decade apart. As I said before, it is not easy reading. And while I enjoyed the book and it is beautifully written, with exquisite characterisation, it is hardly a laugh a minute, and I did feel sad at the end.

Many thanks to PalamedesPR for inviting me to be part of this #blogtour

About the Author

Safinah Danish Elahi is a lawyer, novelist and a poet. She has earned her MFA in publishing and contemporary fiction from Emerson College, Boston. She has authored three books, a collection of poetry by the name, The Unbridled Romance of Love and Pain and the novel, Eye on the Prize which has been converted into a TV series named Dauur. Her third book, The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon has been launched in the UK by Neem Tree Press and shortlisted for the Asian Fiction Prize 2023. She is also the founder of an award-winning independent publishing house, Reverie Publishers. She was the official nominee from Pakistan for the prestigious International Writers’ Fall.