Tragedy strikes when her brother and friends are caught up in the cynically repressive regime. Faced with loss and injustice, she embarks upon a series of paintings entitled 'the empty room', filling the blank canvases with vivid colour and light.

Elegant, poetic and powerful, The Empty Room is an important addition to contemporary Pakistani literature, a moving portrait of life in Karachi at a pivotal moment in the nation's history and a powerful meditation on art and the dilemmas faced by women who must find their own creative path in hostile conditions.