A bildungsroman (an autobiographical novel revealing the journey of a character transitioning from childhood to adulthood), Shabanu was released in 1989 and vividly portrays the coming-of-age saga of a young girl navigating life in the arid expanses of Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation. The evocative subtitle, Daughter of the Wind, encapsulates the nomadic existence dictated by the desert’s harsh reality, where survival hinges on the ability to drift and adapt like the wind itself when the terrain turns barren and the toba, or waterhole, vanishes.

As the novel unfolds, Shabanu, a mere eleven-year-old, occasionally defies authority and flirts with rebellion. Yet, she soon confronts the inevitability of bowing to her father's wishes and eventually to the demands of her husband in an arranged union with an older man. Though her spirit remains untamed, her character undeniably blossoms into maturity by the story’s end.