The Language of Ashes
A Novel by Abdul Rafay

Some voices vanish in war. Others return in fire.

When London-based playwright Zohra Khan discovers a faded photograph in her late grandmother's drawer, it unlocks a secret buried for over fifty years—a missing aunt, Nilofer, a poet and student activist who vanished during the violent crackdown in Dhaka, 1971. Determined to uncover the truth, Zohra embarks on a journey from Karachi to Bangladesh, tracing the fragments of a life erased by history and shame.

As she unearths banned poems, survivor testimonies, and the stories no one dares to speak, Zohra finds herself confronting not only a silenced past but her own fractured inheritance. Through a bold reimagining of The Tempest, she gives voice to the disappeared—and forces her family, and her country, to reckon with the ghosts they tried to forget.

Taut, lyrical, and emotionally resonant, The Language of Ashes is a haunting exploration of memory, silence, and the power of art to reclaim what was lost. Spanning generations and borders, this is a novel about women who dared to speak when silence was survival—and the fire their words still carry.