Hello and welcome to Meet the Writers.
I'm Georgina Godwin.
This programme was recorded in front of a live audience at Daunt Books in Malaban
as part of their annual literary festival.
My guest is a writer whose work has long explored power, family and the forces that shape a life.
She comes from one of Pakistan's most prominent political dynasties, a family marked by influence and tragedy,
including the assassination of her father.
Her books include Songs of Blood and Sword,
The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, The Runaways and New Kings of the World.
Her new memoir, The Hour of the Wolf, begins in lockdown in a quiet English village
with a deer in the garden and a dog in distress.
And from that moment opens out into a story about love, control, loss, friendship and survival.
Fatima Butto, welcome to Meet the Writers.
Thank you.
Vata and I were discussing that we hadn't brought our dogs,
though we both wanted to, because they both freak out at applause.
And I think that might be what was happening there with, is that teddy that's barking?
I'm not sure which dog it is, but there's a lovely whippet over there somewhere as well.
How many dogs do we have in the audience?
Oh, four.