In the world of love stories, there’s a special thrill to the concept of forbidden romance. Pakistani author, Sara Naveed, in her recent book Our Story Ends Here explores an unusual love story — that between a guy, who is a terrorist, trained to be ruthless and fearless while taking lives, and an army general’s daughter. With her cinematic style of writing, where the stories of the lead characters run parallel, Sara offers an insight into the cultural milieu of the country, while trying to show the evil side of terrorism through this love story set in the Swat Valley.
“The idea of an ordinary girl falling for a bad guy, someone with a dark past, excited me. So, this excitement led me to writing this book,” says Sara, adding, “In real life, someone would not even think of falling in love with a terrorist. But again, love is unpredictable. However, in my book what happens between the girl and the terrorist is different. She falls in love with him without knowing his true identity. What happens when she finds out about his true identity is the turning point in the story. With this book, I am not trying to challenge any conventional notion of love rooted in our societies. I have just tried to tell a simple love story taking place in an uncomplicated world. Love is never complicated — it’s the people who make it so.”
OUR STORY ENDS HERE by Sara Naveed Penguin India pp.288, Rs 199
Having completed her Masters in banking and finance, the Lahore-based author made her writing debut with Undying Affinity, and says being a writer is a passion that resides deep in her heart and soul. Before writing any scene, she says, she imagines how it would appear on the big screen. “If it seems apt for the screen, then I pen it down. My writing style is a bit cinematic. Unfortunately, the trend of turning books into movies is not common in Pakistan, instead, they turn them into television soaps. I am looking forward to seeing this book turned into a movie one day, because I’m sure it will be successful.”
With terrorism becoming a global problem and not the malaise of any one nation, the author says it is important to speak up about it. “It’s spreading rapidly on a large scale. If we don’t speak about this problem, then who will? It is time for us to stand in unison and fight against terrorism,” says Sara.
She loves reading the works of Indian authors Chetan Bhagat, Durjoy Dutta and Ravinder Singh and says she is eagerly awaiting Arundhati Roy’s next book.
