In today’s “post-truth” world, where facts are often ignored or dismissed, Muhammad Ali Bandial offers a refreshingly accurate account of familial relationships in his debut novel, I Dream of Rain. He explores a son’s relationship with his father, with whom he shares a love of books, in a profoundly emotional way. Unlike VS Naipaul’s portrayal of his father in A House for Mr Biswas, Bandial’s tale is deeply personal and unique.

To give credit to the author, he spends a significant amount of time deeply investigating Bunny’s inner turmoil, bringing us back again and again to how the young Bunny idolised his father growing up; how his father, as a member of the armed forces, was for him the epitome of masculine strength and wisdom; and how Bunny’s lost trust in his father tore a deep rift within him. As we watch Bunny in the present grapple with his father’s health deteriorating because of the bullet wounds, we are simultaneously taken back to the past where Bunny’s abrupt departure to a boarding school causes first confusion, then grief and, eventually, anger at his parent’s betrayal.

Muhammad Ali Bandial’s latest novel, And Still the Earth Turns, opens with familiar yet weighty themes such as love, terrorism, exploitation and molestation – both physical and psychological. The story highlights the persistent mistreatment of minorities due to myopic interests, which runs as a constant thread throughout the narrative.

While the story is made up of many important characters, each of whom has their own arc and plays crucial roles as it progresses, it all comes down to the love story between Qasim and Asma. In a way, both characters and the story they tell, are incomplete without the other. Coming from completely opposite ends of society, they find common ground in shared beliefs and ideas.

Exquisitely written with a raw intensity, Muhammad Ali Bandial’s ‘I Dream of Rain’ is a powerful exploration of time and circumstance, and the drivers which form and mould personality and relationships.