Book Launching: Hold On

In a society that demands silence, one Pakistani girl dares to feel, speak, and break free.

Hira Gul has always lived on the edges—bright, observant, and quietly burdened by the expectations placed on girls who are told to shrink themselves to survive. In a home where love comes with conditions and silence is a form of safety, she learns early how to disappear. But everything begins to shift when she starts university in Peshawar, where the thrill of independence, the promise of love, and intellectual freedom begin to crack her shell.

What follows is not a single transformation, but a long, uneven journey across cities and selves—from the stifling warmth of home in Chamkani, Peshawar, to a solitary apartment in downtown Islamabad.

Along the way, Hira navigates difficult friendships, subtle betrayals, familial responsibilities, and the kind of love that feels safe until it doesn’t. Through it all, she is forced to ask what it means to belong: to a place, to a person, and most of all, to herself.

Will she retreat into silence, or carve out a voice strong enough to carry her forward?

Hold On is a powerful piece of South Asian women’s fiction, perfect for fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns and A Good Indian Girl. With themes of abuse, class divisions, and emotional healing, this coming-of-age novel will resonate with anyone seeking to read stories about women’s empowerment, as they break stereotypes and redefine their own worth.

A soul-stirring Pakistani literary fiction about holding on when the world tells you to let go.

About the Speaker:

Naveed Iftikhar’s writings are consistently inspired from the lived realities of the average Pakistani, including the complexities of class and social mobility, the constraints of patriarchy, and deeply rooted codes of honor. This novel is born out of his personal experiences of growing up in a society that disregards emotional struggles and stigmatizes those who challenge societal norms. He writes with particular sensitivity to the challenges faced by women in homes, educational institutes, and the public sphere.

When he’s not writing or working, Naveed enjoys reading, hiking, traveling, and developing community connections. He resides in Islamabad with his wife and children.

About the Panelists:

• Naveed Iftikhar
  (Author, Academic, Entrepreneur, Doctorate from the University of Delaware)
• Sauleha Kamal
  (Writer, Cultural Critic, Chevening and Cambridge Trust Scholar, Recipient of the Axinn Foundation/Anna Quindlen Prize, Yaddo Fellowship in Literature in 2019)
• Umar Riaz
  (Civil Servant, Trainer, Bibliophile)
• Shirin Gul
  (Sociologist, Development Sector Practitioner)
• Nihal Farid
  (Artist, Literature Enthusiast — Moderator)

This session is free and open to all. Just visit the venue to attend it.

The Black Hole
Plot 5H, Street 100, G-11/3, Islamabad.
Click here for Google Maps Location