By Tamreez Inam
Chasing Shadows in Borrowed Light, author Safinah Danish Elahi’s fourth book and her third novel, is a compelling and deeply moving story of four friends driven apart by one fateful incident and an exploration of the ties that still bind them. The writer has really come into her own with this book; the writing, the craft, the execution is pitch perfect and one of the best Pakistani novels I have read in a while.
At the Dubai launch of the book last month, Safinah talked about her inspiration for writing the book as well as the writing process. She shared that the book was conceived and developed during The International Writing Program at Iowa, one of the most prestigious writing fellowships in the world, where Safinah had been the only writer representing Pakistan that year.
The novel is a deep and complex exploration of how friendships and people change over time and forces us to ask difficult questions: What does it mean to be there for another without losing oneself? Can we ever overcome grief and trauma and be whole again? Can love be the panacea that saves us from ourselves?
These questions are probed through the novel’s cast of four main characters. Saira, Areen, Ashar, and Usman, once inseparable teenagers in Karachi with dreams for their future, are introduced to us in the present day as adults in their thirties, living in different corners of the world, navigating personal, familial and career pressures.
They are estranged from each other, in varying degrees, when an SOS call from Areen brings them all together once again. It forces them to take stock of their lives and ask what it is they really want, from each other and from themselves.
Saira and Usman had left things unresolved – but now with decades between them and partners and children, will they let the past define their future? Areen, so magnetic and seemingly full of life as a young person, has been battling traumas and secrets all her life. Will her friends be able to pull her out of the darkness? Ashar, who has never felt quite at home with his family – his father, stepmother and step-siblings – is confronted with what it means to deal with intergenerational trauma and still choose love and healing.
The characters are well-developed, complex and layered. The writing is great; there were so many lines I stopped to read twice. The psychological tensions, the traumas, the compulsion to reunite with friends and first loves, the ways in which people grow apart and tear each other apart, are themes that are handled with dexterity and nuance. And finally, the book leaves you with the inescapable and devastating truth at the heart of it all: that no one can save you except yourself.
It’s a book that stays with you long after you’ve read it and would make for a great book club pick as there is so much here to discover, unpack and debate, not just about the characters but ourselves.
Tamreez Inam is a senior programme director and cultural strategist with over 15 years of experience leading international events and creative initiatives across the UAE and the UK. Formerly Assistant Festival Director and Head of Programming at the Emirates Literature Foundation, she curated the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and has moderated conversations with global writers, artists, and leaders. She is currently Head of Programme for the 2025 Asia Pacific Cities Summit & Mayors’ Forum at Expo City Dubai. Winner of the 2024 First Chapter ELF-Seddiqi Writing Fellowship, she is writing her debut novel.