Had Fatima Bhutto been left to her own devices, her devastating forthcoming memoir would have been almost entirely about her relationship with her dog, Coco. “I know it sounds nuts,” she laughs.And it’s true that being dog-crazy doesn’t quite track with the public perception of Bhutto as a writer, journalist, activist and member of Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty. But the pandemic had forced something of a creative unravelling and when Bhutto took stock, she found herself only really able to write about Coco. Her agent politely suggested her memoir might need something more. A second draft was written, then abandoned.
“Until I thought, what if I just tell the truth? And then it fell out of me – it didn’t even pour, it fell.” In around three weeks Bhutto had reworked her draft and, in the process, revealed a shocking chapter of her life that she’d kept secret from everyone around her.
The resulting book, The Hour of the Wolf, is a raw, vulnerable account of an abusive, decade-long relationship that Bhutto endured, certain in her belief that this was love. It charts the painful realisation that this man (she only refers to him as The Man), who she writes is “unlike anyone that I have ever met: uninhibited, blazingly sure of himself … beautiful, rugged, old-school masculine … a free spirit”, had manipulated her into accepting that flashes of kindness and sporadic adventure were the real deal.
The two met in New York in 2011,when Bhutto was on tour with her sensational family memoir,Songs of Blood and Sword. The book caused a major stir in Pakistan and beyond by re-evaluating the Kennedy-esque Bhutto dynasty; Fatima held her aunt, Benazir, partially responsible for her father’s murder. The grief was palpable.
Fatima embarked on a long-distance relationship with The Man, meeting around once a month over a period of 11 years. It suited her; she was often travelling for journalistic assignments or being invited to speak at literary events and festivals across the world. She wrote novels and essays. She was nominated for the Women’s prize for fiction. None of this was really of interest to The Man, who became controlling. His darker side was full of rage; he would treat her with abuse then silence, contempt and scorn. In Bhutto’s description,he would switch fromBhutto has always guarded her privacy – which makes her account all the more tough and exposing – but that she didn’t tell any of her many friends that she had a boyfriend,let alone what thier relationship was like,is hard to reconcile. This, of course, was due to the nature of the “love” The Man had manufactured between them: he insisted they had to remain a secret, they weren’t to indulge in “normal” behavior such as meeting each other’s friends or family, living in the same city, let alone the same home.
“I had read stories and seen things throughout my life about women who’d been put in hazardous situations by men.I just never thought I was one of them because it hadn’t been physical, you know?” (She says this, though in the book she recounts that he once bit her finger so hard, it gave her nerve damage.) “So I just thought that that would never happen to me, that it could never happen. All the while it was happening, and happening, and happening, and I hadn’t connected it. I just thought the cliche was to obvious. You know, that someone wants to break a strong woman?” Bhutto projects poise, even when she’s being wry. “I mean, I was not young enough for this to be excusable.”
Was there a part of her, in the years she spent independently travelling and living all over the world, establishing her career, that thought this relationship was all she deserved?
“That’s the amazing thing,” she says, trying to reconcile her solid self-esteem against what she was put through.”There was no part of me that thought that. It was the opposite. I used to say to him: ‘If I hadn’t had the father I had, you would have damaged me. You know, if I had an absent father, if I had a father that was cruel, or if I had a father that never told me I was clever or smart or strong, you would have done harm to me.’ And he didn’t break me in the end.” On this she is clear. “I felt damaged by him, but I know that the damage he wanted to do was total.”
Bhutto’s father, Murtaza Bhutto, was the eldest son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of Pakistan People’s party (PPP) and prime minister of the country in the 1970s. The story of the Bhuttos is in many ways the story of Pakistan. Their family history is the nation’s history, and it is indeed under the weight of immense scrutiny and violence that Fatima has lived her whole life.
Her grandfather Zulfikar was overthrown by a military coup and executed in 1979, in circumstances that sent shockwaves around th
Fatima Bhutto’s Early Life and Family history
Fatima Bhutto spent a portion of her childhood in secret, living in Syria with her stepmother and brother following the death of her father, Murtaza Bhutto, in 1996.
Born in 1982, Fatima is the granddaughter of former Pakistani Prime Minister zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the niece of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Her father, Murtaza Bhutto, was a politician and activist who founded the Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) after a disagreement with his sister, Benazir. Murtaza Bhutto was killed in a police encounter in Karachi on September 20, 1996, an event that remains controversial and subject to various investigations.
Following her father’s death, Fatima, along with her stepmother Ghinwa Bhutto and younger brother Zulfikar Ali Bhutto jr., lived in secrecy in Syria for a period. According to Fatima,her upbringing was marked by a strange normalcy despite the surrounding turmoil. She recalls being given little warning before being sent to Damascus, maintaining a facade of routine while facing notable upheaval.
Life in Exile and Return to pakistan
Fatima Bhutto’s time in Syria was characterized by a unique blend of privilege and fear.
The family’s move to Syria was motivated by concerns for their safety after Murtaza Bhutto’s death. Fatima describes a childhood where she was informed of significant life changes with little explanation, such as being told they were going to Damascus at midnight without a clear reason. This experience highlights the precariousness of their situation and the need for secrecy.
Fatima eventually returned to Pakistan and pursued her education. She attended Karachi Grammar School and later Smith College in Massachusetts, graduating in 2004 with a degree in Middle eastern Studies. She then earned a Master of Arts degree in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS University of London in 2005.
Career as a Writer and Activist
Fatima Bhutto is a prominent Pakistani writer and activist known for her political commentary and literary works.
Bhutto has authored several books, including “Whispers of the Desert” (2006), a collection of poetry, and “The Shadow of the Crescent moon” (2007), a novel that explores themes of family, loss, and political turmoil in Pakistan. Her non-fiction work, “Songs of Blood: The Bhutto Dynasty” (2010), provides a critical examination of her family’s history and its impact on Pakistani politics.
She frequently contributes to international publications, offering insights on Pakistani politics, social issues, and the broader geopolitical landscape. In 2013, she was named one of the ”500 Most Influential Muslims” by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. Bhutto continues to be a vocal advocate for social justice and human rights in Pakistan and beyond.
