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The Hour of the Wolf
From acclaimed journalist and novelist Fatima Bhutto, whose work has been hailed as “intense and powerful” (NPR), comes a searing, intimate memoir of grief, heartbreak, and what we owe the natural world—all learned from the dog who saved her life.
Fatima Bhutto was a teenager when her beloved father was assassinated. Ever since, she longed for a complete and happy family. Years later, still grappling with profound grief, she meets a charismatic man who offers her a new beginning—promising love, healing, and the children she’s always dreamed of. But the dream soon unravels, revealing a toxic, manipulative relationship that holds her captive for over a decade.
By the spring of 2020, Fatima finds herself secluded in the English countryside, accompanied by her most loyal Coco, a fiercely protective Jack Russell terrier. In the presence of nature and Coco’s unwavering devotion, Fatima begins to question everything—and slowly finds the courage to confront her suffering and reclaim her voice.
In The Hour of the Wolf, Bhutto weaves reflections on love, loss, and healing with poignant memories of family, a yearning for motherhood, and meditations on literature, cinema, art, politics, and the wild world around her. Heartbreaking yet hopeful, this kaleidoscopic memoir is a testament to resilience, self-acceptance, and the restorative power of friendship—especially that of one small, brave dog.
Fatima Bhutto was a teenager when her beloved father was assassinated. Ever since, she longed for a complete and happy family. Years later, still grappling with profound grief, she meets a charismatic man who offers her a new beginning—promising love, healing, and the children she’s always dreamed of. But the dream soon unravels, revealing a toxic, manipulative relationship that holds her captive for over a decade.
By the spring of 2020, Fatima finds herself secluded in the English countryside, accompanied by her most loyal Coco, a fiercely protective Jack Russell terrier. In the presence of nature and Coco’s unwavering devotion, Fatima begins to question everything—and slowly finds the courage to confront her suffering and reclaim her voice.
In The Hour of the Wolf, Bhutto weaves reflections on love, loss, and healing with poignant memories of family, a yearning for motherhood, and meditations on literature, cinema, art, politics, and the wild world around her. Heartbreaking yet hopeful, this kaleidoscopic memoir is a testament to resilience, self-acceptance, and the restorative power of friendship—especially that of one small, brave dog.
226 pages, Paperback
Published February 26, 2026
31 people are currently reading
5233 people want to read
About the author
Fatima Bhutto
16 books799 followersFatima Bhutto studied at Columbia University, and the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Her work has appeared in The Daily Beast,
New Statesman, and other publications. She was a featured panelist at the 2010
Daily Beast Women in the World Summit, and has been featured on NPRs Morning Edition, CNN, and in the pages of Marie Claire. She currently lives in Karachi.
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New Statesman, and other publications. She was a featured panelist at the 2010
Daily Beast Women in the World Summit, and has been featured on NPRs Morning Edition, CNN, and in the pages of Marie Claire. She currently lives in Karachi.
"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
March 19, 2026
we don't deserve dogs.
this is an emotional and well researched memoir about the love of canines and the love of people and the love of the world, and the cruelty that exists in the realm of all three.
i didn't always know where or when we were, and this could sometimes feel like jumping from regret to regret or suffering to suffering or point to point. but it was always emotionally resonant and honest, and that, in memoir and in life, is the most important thing.
bottom line: very good.
(thanks to the publisher for the copy)
this is an emotional and well researched memoir about the love of canines and the love of people and the love of the world, and the cruelty that exists in the realm of all three.
i didn't always know where or when we were, and this could sometimes feel like jumping from regret to regret or suffering to suffering or point to point. but it was always emotionally resonant and honest, and that, in memoir and in life, is the most important thing.
bottom line: very good.
(thanks to the publisher for the copy)
February 1, 2026
Pakistani writer Bhutto recounts the decade following her dad’s assassination with the man, her unofficial romantic partner. In public and outward-facing, the unnamed man is confident, radiant, and demanding; between them, he persuasively separates Bhutto from her world and deprives her of relational stability in their partnership. He cruelly puts her down, picking apart her work and having fits of rage. Meanwhile, he dazzles Bhutto into believing that he holds the keys to the world: she may be naive, her thinking facile; but she should consider herself lucky because the man will guide her.
Coco, Bhutto’s Jack Russel terrier, counters the man’s abuse, problematic behavior that echoes how Bhutto’s narcissistic stepmother treated her. And it is Coco and Allegra, two enduring companions throughout the memoir, to whom Bhutto clings during her periods of isolation. The former receives the focus in The Hour of Wolf as Bhutto notes the scientific and culturally historic encyclopedic notes on wolves, and as a symbol, it functions in several ways for the author. For example, Bhutto links Coco to wolves, emphasizing the absence of companionship with the man. Also, Bhutto recognizes her need for a pack to survive—her solitariness cannot be a sustainable means of protection from the world, even though hers shattered when her father was taken from her too early.
Most significantly, Coco’s pregnancy reinforces Bhutto’s desire to care for other creatures in a maternal role: “There is something greater than grief, something more ferocious and tenacious.” Pushing her to direct her care outwardly and recognizing the man’s destructive hold, Coco and her litter of pups give Bhutto space to love the beloved and end her decade-long relationship with the man.
I applaud Bhutto’s intimate writing and the academic-ish form of her memoir. The Hour of Wolf reminded me of My Good Bright Wolf with the wolf as a backdrop for Bhutto’s survival and an example to emulate as Coco (a descendant of the wolf) helps her heal. Perhaps the wolf symbol as such did not grab my attention as quickly as I hoped (so, a personal preference). Furthermore, the topic of Bhutto’s toxic relationship also felt a little bit familiar, immediately prompting me to recall my reading of The Möbius Book because she and Lacey work as writers. For these two reasons, I rate Bhutto’s memoir 3 stars. Areas I wish she developed more were her relationship with her nuclear family, Pakistani background, and religious position, although I understand an author’s decision to set boundaries. A brief note on Bhutto’s atheism: there was more reference to Allah and God than I would’ve expected.
My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC.
Coco, Bhutto’s Jack Russel terrier, counters the man’s abuse, problematic behavior that echoes how Bhutto’s narcissistic stepmother treated her. And it is Coco and Allegra, two enduring companions throughout the memoir, to whom Bhutto clings during her periods of isolation. The former receives the focus in The Hour of Wolf as Bhutto notes the scientific and culturally historic encyclopedic notes on wolves, and as a symbol, it functions in several ways for the author. For example, Bhutto links Coco to wolves, emphasizing the absence of companionship with the man. Also, Bhutto recognizes her need for a pack to survive—her solitariness cannot be a sustainable means of protection from the world, even though hers shattered when her father was taken from her too early.
Most significantly, Coco’s pregnancy reinforces Bhutto’s desire to care for other creatures in a maternal role: “There is something greater than grief, something more ferocious and tenacious.” Pushing her to direct her care outwardly and recognizing the man’s destructive hold, Coco and her litter of pups give Bhutto space to love the beloved and end her decade-long relationship with the man.
I applaud Bhutto’s intimate writing and the academic-ish form of her memoir. The Hour of Wolf reminded me of My Good Bright Wolf with the wolf as a backdrop for Bhutto’s survival and an example to emulate as Coco (a descendant of the wolf) helps her heal. Perhaps the wolf symbol as such did not grab my attention as quickly as I hoped (so, a personal preference). Furthermore, the topic of Bhutto’s toxic relationship also felt a little bit familiar, immediately prompting me to recall my reading of The Möbius Book because she and Lacey work as writers. For these two reasons, I rate Bhutto’s memoir 3 stars. Areas I wish she developed more were her relationship with her nuclear family, Pakistani background, and religious position, although I understand an author’s decision to set boundaries. A brief note on Bhutto’s atheism: there was more reference to Allah and God than I would’ve expected.
My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC.
February 28, 2026
This book mixes memoir with musings about our relationship as humans with animals & nature
I really enjoyed these snippets throughout the book, detailing the domestication of wolves, the friendly deer of Miyajima, stories and beliefs about animals from different cultures, climate change, and much more. They really fit in with the tone of the book and I think they further cemented Bhutto’s relationship with her dog Coco in these grand ways, showing how interconnected we have always been and always will be with nature and other animals
This was both a difficult read, dealing with abuse and Coco’s problematic pregnancy, and a beautiful & hopeful read. I really liked Bhutto’s relationship with Coco and her friends who helped her through difficult times
Thank you to Fatima Bhutto & Daunt Books Publishing for the free copy!
I really enjoyed these snippets throughout the book, detailing the domestication of wolves, the friendly deer of Miyajima, stories and beliefs about animals from different cultures, climate change, and much more. They really fit in with the tone of the book and I think they further cemented Bhutto’s relationship with her dog Coco in these grand ways, showing how interconnected we have always been and always will be with nature and other animals
This was both a difficult read, dealing with abuse and Coco’s problematic pregnancy, and a beautiful & hopeful read. I really liked Bhutto’s relationship with Coco and her friends who helped her through difficult times
Thank you to Fatima Bhutto & Daunt Books Publishing for the free copy!
February 4, 2026
loved the unconditional love from/for her dog hate the torture she put herself through with an awful man - how many red flags can someone ignore??
February 22, 2026
The Hour Of The Wolf: A Memior is a needed, powerful, emotional, honest, and raw book! I love that this author holds nothing back in her writing. Her grief, love, power, and all the other complex emotions she felt are so relatable as she describes her life and eventual healing. I find it very brave and needed that this author describes the toxic and manipulative relationship she was in. Young women need to understand that we cannot force change on someone else and sometimes change never comes when we are waiting for it. The relationship between this author and her dog also touched my heart. Dogs are truly healers for so many.
April 5, 2026
I really wanted to like this memoir, despite its formulaic and familiar storyline: a self-described strong and independent woman falls for a charismatic, magnetic narcissist who treats her horribly, often in public, for 10 years, all while insisting on keeping their relationship secret. There are eye-popping scenes of his cruelty and pettiness, almost always in full view of others, to humiliate Bhutto even more. She finds solace in her beloved dog Coco and her puppies, whose love heals the writer and gives her the strength to break free of her tormentor.
A skilled memoirist would’ve turned this predictable fare into something resonant and perhaps transcendent. But sadly The Hour of the Wolf is neither. It’s a fairly pedestrian misery memoir unleavened by any real insights. Pages and pages read as if they were lifted directly from the author’s diary, with abrupt shifts in tense, tedious repetition, and a confusing chronology. Its literary allusions feel slapdash and random—a Bergman film, stray lines from Toni Morrison, Mahmoud Darwish, Milan Kundera, Malcolm X, and repeated mention of an ethnography of wolves that’s supposed to anchor the memoir’s tribute to “the natural world,” but falls flat and feels mannered. “In times of grief and anxiety, nature reminds me that there is beauty undisturbed by my pain.” Too many of these wince-inducing sentences weigh down the prose and end up affirming not the writer’s attunement to “nature” but her self-absorption.
I felt genuinely happy for Bhutto that she experienced a happy ending and jettisoned the corrosive narcissist. She finds serene love with a kind and self-confident man, and fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. The only question is whether the drama merited this slog of a book, or it was better left in its original form (as a piece in Granta magazine).
A skilled memoirist would’ve turned this predictable fare into something resonant and perhaps transcendent. But sadly The Hour of the Wolf is neither. It’s a fairly pedestrian misery memoir unleavened by any real insights. Pages and pages read as if they were lifted directly from the author’s diary, with abrupt shifts in tense, tedious repetition, and a confusing chronology. Its literary allusions feel slapdash and random—a Bergman film, stray lines from Toni Morrison, Mahmoud Darwish, Milan Kundera, Malcolm X, and repeated mention of an ethnography of wolves that’s supposed to anchor the memoir’s tribute to “the natural world,” but falls flat and feels mannered. “In times of grief and anxiety, nature reminds me that there is beauty undisturbed by my pain.” Too many of these wince-inducing sentences weigh down the prose and end up affirming not the writer’s attunement to “nature” but her self-absorption.
I felt genuinely happy for Bhutto that she experienced a happy ending and jettisoned the corrosive narcissist. She finds serene love with a kind and self-confident man, and fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. The only question is whether the drama merited this slog of a book, or it was better left in its original form (as a piece in Granta magazine).
March 30, 2026
Bhutto is an impressive writer and scion of Pakistani political lineage. This book is a fast-moving and big-hearted blend of personal memoir and natural history. Bhutto’s journey to a love she deserves after decades of emotional abuse, carried by the love of a dog and her pups, is uplifting and hopeful.
At times, however, the book felt over indulgent, the pace and focus of some chapters not adequately clear. It reminded me a lot of Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare, and would have benefitted from that book’s tighter editorial polish.
The Hour of the Wolf did make me reflect really beautifully (and heartbreakingly) on my relationship with our own Pakistani street rescue, Muffin. I feel such a strong bond with her, and Bhutto puts some language around those feelings that I’ve been unable to write down, which I hugely appreciate.
At times, however, the book felt over indulgent, the pace and focus of some chapters not adequately clear. It reminded me a lot of Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare, and would have benefitted from that book’s tighter editorial polish.
The Hour of the Wolf did make me reflect really beautifully (and heartbreakingly) on my relationship with our own Pakistani street rescue, Muffin. I feel such a strong bond with her, and Bhutto puts some language around those feelings that I’ve been unable to write down, which I hugely appreciate.
February 22, 2026
This is a beautiful memoir about feeling lost in life and in a relationship, grief carried since childhood, and our connection to nature and the pets who accompany us on our life’s journey.
I knew the author’s name and that she is an acclaimed writer, but this was the first time I’d read one of her books. And I’m a fan! I instantly fell in love with her lyrical writing style and found this memoir sincere, poignant and very moving.
It personally resonated with me because I have faced similar challenges in the past as the author (not the upbringing, but other parts) and views on human connections to animals. I think you’ll appreciate this book even more if you’ve had a pet who healed you and helped you cope with life’s challenges. It made me terribly miss my beloved dog, who passed away last year 💔, but it also reminded me of the beautiful life we shared together ❤️🩹 (We so miss you, Cookie!)
The book is heartbreaking, but it ends with a hopeful note, so no need to be scared!
Thank you to the author and the publisher tagged for sending me the copy. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
5/5 🌟
I knew the author’s name and that she is an acclaimed writer, but this was the first time I’d read one of her books. And I’m a fan! I instantly fell in love with her lyrical writing style and found this memoir sincere, poignant and very moving.
It personally resonated with me because I have faced similar challenges in the past as the author (not the upbringing, but other parts) and views on human connections to animals. I think you’ll appreciate this book even more if you’ve had a pet who healed you and helped you cope with life’s challenges. It made me terribly miss my beloved dog, who passed away last year 💔, but it also reminded me of the beautiful life we shared together ❤️🩹 (We so miss you, Cookie!)
The book is heartbreaking, but it ends with a hopeful note, so no need to be scared!
Thank you to the author and the publisher tagged for sending me the copy. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
5/5 🌟
April 18, 2026
This book made me weep and not because it is beautifully written (it is) but because it confirms what I knew all along - money really does make the world go around. & some people are just more gifted than others. God willing.
December 1, 2025
4/5
ARC giveaway recipient review
Beautiful chapters that could mostly be stand alone shorts.
ARC giveaway recipient review
Beautiful chapters that could mostly be stand alone shorts.
April 19, 2026
Lovely memoir about the love of dogs, what we can learn from them and how they can help us survive our darkest moments. I cried once or twice while reading and watching my elderly dog sleep next to me peacefully, thinking of how grateful I was to have her. People say this all the time, but it’s true: We don’t deserve dogs. We don’t deserve animals, period.
February 4, 2026
“How have I made myself captive to this entitled, petulant knobhead?” is what Fatima Bhutto wonders in Chapter 15 of her latest memoir The Hour of the Wolf, at exactly 86% mark of the Advance Review Copy I read courtesy of the publisher Scribner. The ARC is in digital format and so whenever I quote from the book you’ll see me give the percentage instead of the page number. The entitled petulant knobhead in the question is a mystery man Bhutto was involved with and in love with for 10 years from 2010 to 2020, which she refers to as her “lost decade” in Chapter 6 (at 39% mark). A relationship that went nowhere while going everywhere.
This is the same decade that was most fruitful for her professionally - she launched her career as a published author of non-fiction and fiction books, her work was translated into various languages, she had successful book tours, she traveled all over the world to write commissioned pieces for well-reputed international magazines and websites. Her instagram account created in 2013 shows that she stayed in parts of Peru, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain, America and UK. She established herself as a paid speaker. She was in demand as an activist and an interviewee giving her voice to causes close to her heart. And yet she felt unheard and unappreciated in a dead-end coercive relationship with a non-committal man who wouldn’t have a child with her. How did an intelligent, well-educated, successful and independent woman settle for something like this?
In Chapter 7 at 47% mark she says, “There is a version of this story that is a love story. I have written drafts of that story before abandoning them.” So the reader will see the lows, of how the relationship disintegrated, but not the highs. And she lays out all the red flags that everyone except her saw.
She says in Chapter 5, at 31% mark, that she met him during the book tour for Songs of Blood and Sword when she was 28. She introduces us the readers to him in Chap. 6, at 34% mark as “When we met, the man didn’t want anything from me. He wasn’t intimidated by me; in contrast to almost everyone I encountered, he was preternaturally cool, unruffled, unfazed. He was curious about me, he told me, because he saw I was suffering and he knew he could fix it……The man had a wild confidence, a surety about everything he said that made you believe him too, as outlandish as some of his claims were—that he could take away pain, remove suffering, proffer insight into any problem, no matter how large or how small.”
“He had many stories in his personal archive of all the women he had helped stand up for themselves, empowering them by engaging and guiding them. He helped me to stand up for myself with other people, insisting I confront them and have uncomfortable conversations in order not to be pushed around. He delighted in his ability to deliver powerful insights to strangers just as he had helped me with my grief.” [35%, chap. 6]
She is swept off her feet. From her descriptions, he comes across as a learned, confident, fit man of great stamina who is busy enough to frequently travel for work and rich enough to drop everything and take up whatever hobby fancies him. He’s unmarried. As she writes at 38% mark [chap.6]:
“He held forth on Buddhism, industrial history, World War II, the Mongols, and counterespionage tactics……He taught me how to walk against the howling wind and protect myself against the cold, how to catch and free fireflies, and—with great resistance on my part—how to ride a motorcycle.”
“During our time together, I relied on him the way a student does a teacher or a patient their doctor.” [34% mark, Chap. 6]
“He could run in sneakers or barefoot, it didn’t matter. This was what made him unusually excellent at most things he chose to do—his stamina, fortitude, but most of all his patience. When he was determined about something, he was tenacious.” [57%, chap.8.]
She trusts him completely (as she recounts the anecdote of how she allowed him to walk her down and up again a countryside hill with her eyes shut and feet completely bare.) [35%, chap.6]
You will be shocked to find the many instances in which she recounts being coercively controlled by the unnamed man. For one thing: he wanted to remain anonymous, never go public with her, which meant that none of her friends, colleagues or family members would ever meet him or spend time with him.
He’s a feminist and he believes in equality, or so he says. But Bhutto pays for everything, even the hormone injections that she needs for producing enough eggs so that they can be extracted and frozen for future eventual maybe babies, before her biological clock runs out.
You’ll read with horror the intimate details of Bhutto’s attempt to inject her stomach and weeks later to go through the procedure requiring general anaesthesia in a Barcelona clinic to retrieve the eggs - a process she calls ‘Eggxit’ in Chapter 8, at 55% mark. Her boyfriend makes up an excuse to not be there for any of it and tells her about this difficult and fear-inducing process that if it doesn’t work, “you can do it again in five years.” [57% mark, Chap. 8, Day11] and how he thinks her dog Coco is like a daughter to him. [82%, Chapter 13]
I wish Bhutto had been a bit more transparent about their long distance arrangement, on where he lived or whether he was in the same field as her, on whether she ever felt he was seeing other women when not with her, because it felt like a situation where he was having his cake and eating it too, and she was left to pick up the pieces of his free bird nature, arrogance or rudeness or absence. He - who is not named or identified in any discernible manner - is written as an insufferable twat. He disses her writing, undermines her nomination for an award, goads her to leave friends he thinks are insincere.
47% [Chapter 7]:
“I never pushed too hard, though, partly because I was victim to the same rotten thinking that plagues so many women: that this would pass, and it would pass because I could change him.”
48% [Chapter 7]:
“By year seven, this “logic” took on a new, slightly manic overtone. When I had outrun reason, I started to pray, and I visited shrines and temples on my travels. Allegra and I drove all day one summer in Italy to see the shrine of Saint Rita, saint of impossible causes. I bought crystals, I wore talismans. I took vitamins…..If I couldn’t convince the man that seven years was a terrible amount of time to make a woman wait to have a baby, then God would persuade him. Or the dynamic power of tourmaline. Or chanting……By my late thirties, I could think of nothing else. I drove myself crazy with a ragged determination to blame everything except my decision to stay with the man for my failure to have a family. I looked up surahs and listened to Alan Watts and Thich Nhat Hanh. I channeled my frustration into writing. I exercised. I tumbled into a deep depression and stopped eating, seeing people. I lost weight. I started eating again. I injured myself running. I stopped exercising. I stopped eating chocolate, renouncing it as an offering to the universe in exchange for what I wanted, chocolate in exchange for my life’s dream. I ran away. I hid. I studied my horoscope. I wrote gratitude lists. At the height of my desperation, at the age of thirty-eight, I called an astrologer a friend swore by. I asked her to do a chart for the whole year, and when she asked me if there was anything in particular I was interested in knowing about, I didn’t hedge—will I have a child? After a week or so, the astrologer sent me a recording and prefaced the year’s forecast by gently telling me that she didn’t see anything to do with children. Or much else, for that matter.”
Here is the entire gamut of psychological roller coaster that gaslit people go through. Privilege does not protect you from being vulnerable or from becoming emotionally dependent and trying to manifest a different outcome when you’ve invested so much time in a man. Plenty of women have fallen for this and will identify with Bhutto, but only to a certain extent.
Because Bhutto mourns the loss of a future she thought she’d have with this boyfriend without real world problems or therapeutic adventures. She doesn’t mention any mental health or wellness intervention that she may have sought. Maybe the act of writing this book and exorcising the past was revelatory therapy for her. As a financially independent woman with no strings or contracts (legal or moral) attaching her to this nameless boyfriend, it was easy for her to let go. Reading the book one feels that she simply grew tired of waiting and when she faced an endless impasse (of him not wanting to ‘plant roots’ and have kids with her, wasting her time), with no resolution and no intimacy, hating him and resenting him, all pretense gone, she makes a clean break from him. And remarkably does not suffer the ignominy and awkwardness of meeting him in her circle (professional or personal) thereafter because it had been a secret / private relationship. The anonymity of the man remains intact, with no possibility of ‘his side of the story’ (like James Hewitt or Hasnat Khan or Prince Charles of Diana fame) and counter accusations (like Ejaz Rehman of Reham Khan fame.) The possibility of him answering uncomfortable questions like the politician Mustafa Khar on the memoir of his ex-wife Tehmina Durrani is non-existent. The chance he may capitalize and try to make a quick buck over Fatima Bhutto’s activist-celebrity status remains. The chance of him having a kid with someone else is more than likely, because men don’t have a biological clock.
The book’s title is derived from Ingmar Bergman’s film Hour of the Wolf and was suggested to her by one of her friends. At 75% mark, in Chapter 12, she writes, “Ingmar Bergman’s 1968 film Hour of the Wolf is about an artist who has a breakdown while on a secluded island with his wife. It takes place mostly between midnight and dawn—at the time when people are supposed to lay down their worries for rest, Bergman’s artist hallucinates and goes slowly mad. Bergman calls this time in the dark of the night the “hours of the wolf”; it is “when most people die, when sleep is the deepest, when nightmares are more real. It is when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful.”27 The Hour of the Wolf is also the hour when most children are born, Bergman says. I think about this at night, lying in the sleepless dark. I was born during the hours of the wolf. I don’t know when exactly, there is no one I can ask.”
Maybe through this title, Bhutto means to say that her “lost decade” was the hour of the wolf - a time when she was dying in the relationship and then was reborn, once she left it. And she stayed firm in this resolution, even when he tried to insinuate himself back in her life.
You’ll rejoice when you find out at the end of the book that she not only got married to another man (called Graham ‘Gibran’ Byra) but was five months pregnant when she finished this book (their son, whom she named Mir in memory of her father, was born when she was 42.) Her second son Caspian Mustafa was born last year. Her instagram feed has pictures of her husband and the wedding. She has also shared pictures of her baby in the arms of her brother.
This book is not just about a bad relationship but also about finding roots and comfort in extended family which in her case comprised of her girlfriends Allegra, Ortensia and Sophie who were there for her when the man wasn’t, and her Jack Russell terrier Coco and the dog’s offsprings, the one that was still-born during Covid-19 lockdown (given in heart-rending detail in Chapter 3, at 17% mark) and the puppies from another pregnancy Teeni, Stellina, Caro, Tokyo, (whose birth she witnesses in Chapter 12, at 77% mark) as well as the adoption of a Daschund. At 79% mark, in Chap. 12 she writes, “I didn’t expect to learn this much about love or God or grace from any of this (i.e. when she is caring for the puppies). I didn’t expect to be so moved by the simple act of care.” Dog lovers and animal lovers will rejoice at Bhutto’s treatment and conversations about her dogs as if they are human beings: she writes at 77% mark of the same chapter (chapter 12) about how her friend Allegra blessed the newborns in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (as per Chritsian tradition) and Bhutto “(I) whisper(ed) the azan in the puppies’ ears, echoing Muslim tradition that sings the call to prayer in a newborn’s ear after birth so it is the first sound they hear,” and when the puppies are 3 years old, while out on a walk with them, she meets a priest talking to 2 brothers and these 3 people then sing the Franciscan blessing for the animals to them (as told at 90% mark in the Epilogue.) Her insta account is littered with pictures of Coco and her puppies.
The book is strongest in the elements mentioned above, but Bhutto provides nothing more than word salad on nature and climate change. Her verbiage on deer, ants, wolves seems derivative and inspired from iconic books such as H is for Hawk (a book that she recommends on her insta account.)
WHO IS FATIMA BHUTTO:
For the readers who don’t know who Fatima Bhutto is, here’s a brief summary: Bhutto family is a feudal landed gentry from the province of Sindh in Pakistan that saw its ascent in national politics in 1960s with the cultivated rise of firebrand Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto opposing the fiery Bengali Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Bhutto became the first democratically elected prime minister of a divided Pakistan and soon ran into trouble with the military establishment. He was hanged. Z.A. Bhutto was married to Nusrat Bhutto and they had 4 children together - 2 sons, and 2 daughters. One of the daughters was Benazir Bhutto who herself became prime minister twice and was killed on her third attempt. She had three children with Asif Ali Zardari, the current president of Pakistan. Z. A. Bhutto’s other daughter Sanam Bhutto settled in London and does not take part in active politics. The sons died under mysterious circumstances: Shahnawaz Bhutto was poisoned to death in France while Mir Murtaza Bhutto was shot to death by police when his sister was in power. A case full of conspiracy theories (which assassination isn’t?), I still remember the horrific video shown on an international news channel of a bullet riddled but still alive Murtaza Bhutto as he sat erect on a hospital bed or stretcher bleeding profusely from the torso and mouth with no doctor knowing what to do with him. He was Fatima Bhutto’s father. Z. A. Bhutto is her paternal grandfather. Nusrat Bhutto is her paternal grandmother. She frequently commemorates their lives as well as that of her father and uncle on instagram. No mention of Benazir Bhutto - none that I could find (other than her picture with a dog in a post about pet dogs that Bhutto family has had over the decades). Murtaza Bhutto’s other child is a son Murtaza Bhutto Junior, an artist activist. He is Fatima Bhutto’s half-brother. She mentions in this book that she has two brothers.
THIS BOOK’S PLACE IN CELEB MEMOIRS:
The Bhutto dynasty is splintered into two groups: the children of Benazir Bhutto who actively take part in elections and politics, making and breaking alliances, etc. i.e. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, groomed and styled in the image of her murdered mother, is an elected parliamentarian and serving as the First Lady of Pakistan while her father is the president, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the country’s Foreign Minister, something that Z. A. Bhutto was once too, and is heading Bhutto political party. Their sibling Bakhtawar Bhutto joins them on occasion but has been busy raising her family in U.A.E.
The other group is that of the children of Mir Murtaza Bhutto who have chosen for now to not be part of the political or democratic or any ‘hybrid’ process: These include Fatima Bhutto and her brother. She generated a lot of buzz in Pakistani media in 2019, when she abruptly went to Larkana, Sindh and laid wreaths on the graves of the murdered / assassinated / hanged Bhuttos. It was seen as a sign of her entry into politics before general elections. But nothing came of it.
In a rapidly changing world, it’s an interesting dynamic to have two sets of young leaders - some would say nepo political kids - who take different roads to political engagement. The distance from active politics gives Fatima Bhutto and Z.A.Bhutto Junior freedom to say and do and live their truth without the inconvenience of being answerable to any one. However, electoral process and resultant alliances, limits and binds Aseefa Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto and even the non-political Bakhtawar Bhutto, to accountability, judgement and criticism.
The rigid, official and aristocratic airs of Benazir Bhutto’s children are off-set by the casual rag-a-tag grassroot PR campaigns launched by Murtaza Bhutto’s kids. The doers versus the idealists. Though in recent years, Fatima Bhutto and Z.A.Bhutto Junior have stepped up their visibility and charitable work in Pakistan. Maybe the biggest lesson from the lives of all these Bhutto kids is that you can have a long, comfortable life as long as you don’t threaten or resist the status quo. That bargain is a sacrifice in itself.
Through this book, Fatima Bhutto goes a step further - she makes herself relevant to the young generation looking for authentic idols by talking about her disaster in dating and disappointment in love. Her story is relatable to women because she talks about coercive control, gender inequality, motherhood, fertility treatment and its side effects - all of which are hot button trending issues. Her soulful connection with her dog is relatable to everyone who has or ever had a pet.
Maybe in a few years she’ll write about perimenopause and menopause and explain what options (medical, herbal or meditative) she chose for flourishing in her fifties, another non-electoral connection to the masses as a global citizen.
LINK TO REVIEW ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/B5SYxNr0yS4
This is the same decade that was most fruitful for her professionally - she launched her career as a published author of non-fiction and fiction books, her work was translated into various languages, she had successful book tours, she traveled all over the world to write commissioned pieces for well-reputed international magazines and websites. Her instagram account created in 2013 shows that she stayed in parts of Peru, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain, America and UK. She established herself as a paid speaker. She was in demand as an activist and an interviewee giving her voice to causes close to her heart. And yet she felt unheard and unappreciated in a dead-end coercive relationship with a non-committal man who wouldn’t have a child with her. How did an intelligent, well-educated, successful and independent woman settle for something like this?
In Chapter 7 at 47% mark she says, “There is a version of this story that is a love story. I have written drafts of that story before abandoning them.” So the reader will see the lows, of how the relationship disintegrated, but not the highs. And she lays out all the red flags that everyone except her saw.
She says in Chapter 5, at 31% mark, that she met him during the book tour for Songs of Blood and Sword when she was 28. She introduces us the readers to him in Chap. 6, at 34% mark as “When we met, the man didn’t want anything from me. He wasn’t intimidated by me; in contrast to almost everyone I encountered, he was preternaturally cool, unruffled, unfazed. He was curious about me, he told me, because he saw I was suffering and he knew he could fix it……The man had a wild confidence, a surety about everything he said that made you believe him too, as outlandish as some of his claims were—that he could take away pain, remove suffering, proffer insight into any problem, no matter how large or how small.”
“He had many stories in his personal archive of all the women he had helped stand up for themselves, empowering them by engaging and guiding them. He helped me to stand up for myself with other people, insisting I confront them and have uncomfortable conversations in order not to be pushed around. He delighted in his ability to deliver powerful insights to strangers just as he had helped me with my grief.” [35%, chap. 6]
She is swept off her feet. From her descriptions, he comes across as a learned, confident, fit man of great stamina who is busy enough to frequently travel for work and rich enough to drop everything and take up whatever hobby fancies him. He’s unmarried. As she writes at 38% mark [chap.6]:
“He held forth on Buddhism, industrial history, World War II, the Mongols, and counterespionage tactics……He taught me how to walk against the howling wind and protect myself against the cold, how to catch and free fireflies, and—with great resistance on my part—how to ride a motorcycle.”
“During our time together, I relied on him the way a student does a teacher or a patient their doctor.” [34% mark, Chap. 6]
“He could run in sneakers or barefoot, it didn’t matter. This was what made him unusually excellent at most things he chose to do—his stamina, fortitude, but most of all his patience. When he was determined about something, he was tenacious.” [57%, chap.8.]
She trusts him completely (as she recounts the anecdote of how she allowed him to walk her down and up again a countryside hill with her eyes shut and feet completely bare.) [35%, chap.6]
You will be shocked to find the many instances in which she recounts being coercively controlled by the unnamed man. For one thing: he wanted to remain anonymous, never go public with her, which meant that none of her friends, colleagues or family members would ever meet him or spend time with him.
He’s a feminist and he believes in equality, or so he says. But Bhutto pays for everything, even the hormone injections that she needs for producing enough eggs so that they can be extracted and frozen for future eventual maybe babies, before her biological clock runs out.
You’ll read with horror the intimate details of Bhutto’s attempt to inject her stomach and weeks later to go through the procedure requiring general anaesthesia in a Barcelona clinic to retrieve the eggs - a process she calls ‘Eggxit’ in Chapter 8, at 55% mark. Her boyfriend makes up an excuse to not be there for any of it and tells her about this difficult and fear-inducing process that if it doesn’t work, “you can do it again in five years.” [57% mark, Chap. 8, Day11] and how he thinks her dog Coco is like a daughter to him. [82%, Chapter 13]
I wish Bhutto had been a bit more transparent about their long distance arrangement, on where he lived or whether he was in the same field as her, on whether she ever felt he was seeing other women when not with her, because it felt like a situation where he was having his cake and eating it too, and she was left to pick up the pieces of his free bird nature, arrogance or rudeness or absence. He - who is not named or identified in any discernible manner - is written as an insufferable twat. He disses her writing, undermines her nomination for an award, goads her to leave friends he thinks are insincere.
47% [Chapter 7]:
“I never pushed too hard, though, partly because I was victim to the same rotten thinking that plagues so many women: that this would pass, and it would pass because I could change him.”
48% [Chapter 7]:
“By year seven, this “logic” took on a new, slightly manic overtone. When I had outrun reason, I started to pray, and I visited shrines and temples on my travels. Allegra and I drove all day one summer in Italy to see the shrine of Saint Rita, saint of impossible causes. I bought crystals, I wore talismans. I took vitamins…..If I couldn’t convince the man that seven years was a terrible amount of time to make a woman wait to have a baby, then God would persuade him. Or the dynamic power of tourmaline. Or chanting……By my late thirties, I could think of nothing else. I drove myself crazy with a ragged determination to blame everything except my decision to stay with the man for my failure to have a family. I looked up surahs and listened to Alan Watts and Thich Nhat Hanh. I channeled my frustration into writing. I exercised. I tumbled into a deep depression and stopped eating, seeing people. I lost weight. I started eating again. I injured myself running. I stopped exercising. I stopped eating chocolate, renouncing it as an offering to the universe in exchange for what I wanted, chocolate in exchange for my life’s dream. I ran away. I hid. I studied my horoscope. I wrote gratitude lists. At the height of my desperation, at the age of thirty-eight, I called an astrologer a friend swore by. I asked her to do a chart for the whole year, and when she asked me if there was anything in particular I was interested in knowing about, I didn’t hedge—will I have a child? After a week or so, the astrologer sent me a recording and prefaced the year’s forecast by gently telling me that she didn’t see anything to do with children. Or much else, for that matter.”
Here is the entire gamut of psychological roller coaster that gaslit people go through. Privilege does not protect you from being vulnerable or from becoming emotionally dependent and trying to manifest a different outcome when you’ve invested so much time in a man. Plenty of women have fallen for this and will identify with Bhutto, but only to a certain extent.
Because Bhutto mourns the loss of a future she thought she’d have with this boyfriend without real world problems or therapeutic adventures. She doesn’t mention any mental health or wellness intervention that she may have sought. Maybe the act of writing this book and exorcising the past was revelatory therapy for her. As a financially independent woman with no strings or contracts (legal or moral) attaching her to this nameless boyfriend, it was easy for her to let go. Reading the book one feels that she simply grew tired of waiting and when she faced an endless impasse (of him not wanting to ‘plant roots’ and have kids with her, wasting her time), with no resolution and no intimacy, hating him and resenting him, all pretense gone, she makes a clean break from him. And remarkably does not suffer the ignominy and awkwardness of meeting him in her circle (professional or personal) thereafter because it had been a secret / private relationship. The anonymity of the man remains intact, with no possibility of ‘his side of the story’ (like James Hewitt or Hasnat Khan or Prince Charles of Diana fame) and counter accusations (like Ejaz Rehman of Reham Khan fame.) The possibility of him answering uncomfortable questions like the politician Mustafa Khar on the memoir of his ex-wife Tehmina Durrani is non-existent. The chance he may capitalize and try to make a quick buck over Fatima Bhutto’s activist-celebrity status remains. The chance of him having a kid with someone else is more than likely, because men don’t have a biological clock.
The book’s title is derived from Ingmar Bergman’s film Hour of the Wolf and was suggested to her by one of her friends. At 75% mark, in Chapter 12, she writes, “Ingmar Bergman’s 1968 film Hour of the Wolf is about an artist who has a breakdown while on a secluded island with his wife. It takes place mostly between midnight and dawn—at the time when people are supposed to lay down their worries for rest, Bergman’s artist hallucinates and goes slowly mad. Bergman calls this time in the dark of the night the “hours of the wolf”; it is “when most people die, when sleep is the deepest, when nightmares are more real. It is when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful.”27 The Hour of the Wolf is also the hour when most children are born, Bergman says. I think about this at night, lying in the sleepless dark. I was born during the hours of the wolf. I don’t know when exactly, there is no one I can ask.”
Maybe through this title, Bhutto means to say that her “lost decade” was the hour of the wolf - a time when she was dying in the relationship and then was reborn, once she left it. And she stayed firm in this resolution, even when he tried to insinuate himself back in her life.
You’ll rejoice when you find out at the end of the book that she not only got married to another man (called Graham ‘Gibran’ Byra) but was five months pregnant when she finished this book (their son, whom she named Mir in memory of her father, was born when she was 42.) Her second son Caspian Mustafa was born last year. Her instagram feed has pictures of her husband and the wedding. She has also shared pictures of her baby in the arms of her brother.
This book is not just about a bad relationship but also about finding roots and comfort in extended family which in her case comprised of her girlfriends Allegra, Ortensia and Sophie who were there for her when the man wasn’t, and her Jack Russell terrier Coco and the dog’s offsprings, the one that was still-born during Covid-19 lockdown (given in heart-rending detail in Chapter 3, at 17% mark) and the puppies from another pregnancy Teeni, Stellina, Caro, Tokyo, (whose birth she witnesses in Chapter 12, at 77% mark) as well as the adoption of a Daschund. At 79% mark, in Chap. 12 she writes, “I didn’t expect to learn this much about love or God or grace from any of this (i.e. when she is caring for the puppies). I didn’t expect to be so moved by the simple act of care.” Dog lovers and animal lovers will rejoice at Bhutto’s treatment and conversations about her dogs as if they are human beings: she writes at 77% mark of the same chapter (chapter 12) about how her friend Allegra blessed the newborns in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (as per Chritsian tradition) and Bhutto “(I) whisper(ed) the azan in the puppies’ ears, echoing Muslim tradition that sings the call to prayer in a newborn’s ear after birth so it is the first sound they hear,” and when the puppies are 3 years old, while out on a walk with them, she meets a priest talking to 2 brothers and these 3 people then sing the Franciscan blessing for the animals to them (as told at 90% mark in the Epilogue.) Her insta account is littered with pictures of Coco and her puppies.
The book is strongest in the elements mentioned above, but Bhutto provides nothing more than word salad on nature and climate change. Her verbiage on deer, ants, wolves seems derivative and inspired from iconic books such as H is for Hawk (a book that she recommends on her insta account.)
WHO IS FATIMA BHUTTO:
For the readers who don’t know who Fatima Bhutto is, here’s a brief summary: Bhutto family is a feudal landed gentry from the province of Sindh in Pakistan that saw its ascent in national politics in 1960s with the cultivated rise of firebrand Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto opposing the fiery Bengali Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Bhutto became the first democratically elected prime minister of a divided Pakistan and soon ran into trouble with the military establishment. He was hanged. Z.A. Bhutto was married to Nusrat Bhutto and they had 4 children together - 2 sons, and 2 daughters. One of the daughters was Benazir Bhutto who herself became prime minister twice and was killed on her third attempt. She had three children with Asif Ali Zardari, the current president of Pakistan. Z. A. Bhutto’s other daughter Sanam Bhutto settled in London and does not take part in active politics. The sons died under mysterious circumstances: Shahnawaz Bhutto was poisoned to death in France while Mir Murtaza Bhutto was shot to death by police when his sister was in power. A case full of conspiracy theories (which assassination isn’t?), I still remember the horrific video shown on an international news channel of a bullet riddled but still alive Murtaza Bhutto as he sat erect on a hospital bed or stretcher bleeding profusely from the torso and mouth with no doctor knowing what to do with him. He was Fatima Bhutto’s father. Z. A. Bhutto is her paternal grandfather. Nusrat Bhutto is her paternal grandmother. She frequently commemorates their lives as well as that of her father and uncle on instagram. No mention of Benazir Bhutto - none that I could find (other than her picture with a dog in a post about pet dogs that Bhutto family has had over the decades). Murtaza Bhutto’s other child is a son Murtaza Bhutto Junior, an artist activist. He is Fatima Bhutto’s half-brother. She mentions in this book that she has two brothers.
THIS BOOK’S PLACE IN CELEB MEMOIRS:
The Bhutto dynasty is splintered into two groups: the children of Benazir Bhutto who actively take part in elections and politics, making and breaking alliances, etc. i.e. Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, groomed and styled in the image of her murdered mother, is an elected parliamentarian and serving as the First Lady of Pakistan while her father is the president, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the country’s Foreign Minister, something that Z. A. Bhutto was once too, and is heading Bhutto political party. Their sibling Bakhtawar Bhutto joins them on occasion but has been busy raising her family in U.A.E.
The other group is that of the children of Mir Murtaza Bhutto who have chosen for now to not be part of the political or democratic or any ‘hybrid’ process: These include Fatima Bhutto and her brother. She generated a lot of buzz in Pakistani media in 2019, when she abruptly went to Larkana, Sindh and laid wreaths on the graves of the murdered / assassinated / hanged Bhuttos. It was seen as a sign of her entry into politics before general elections. But nothing came of it.
In a rapidly changing world, it’s an interesting dynamic to have two sets of young leaders - some would say nepo political kids - who take different roads to political engagement. The distance from active politics gives Fatima Bhutto and Z.A.Bhutto Junior freedom to say and do and live their truth without the inconvenience of being answerable to any one. However, electoral process and resultant alliances, limits and binds Aseefa Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto and even the non-political Bakhtawar Bhutto, to accountability, judgement and criticism.
The rigid, official and aristocratic airs of Benazir Bhutto’s children are off-set by the casual rag-a-tag grassroot PR campaigns launched by Murtaza Bhutto’s kids. The doers versus the idealists. Though in recent years, Fatima Bhutto and Z.A.Bhutto Junior have stepped up their visibility and charitable work in Pakistan. Maybe the biggest lesson from the lives of all these Bhutto kids is that you can have a long, comfortable life as long as you don’t threaten or resist the status quo. That bargain is a sacrifice in itself.
Through this book, Fatima Bhutto goes a step further - she makes herself relevant to the young generation looking for authentic idols by talking about her disaster in dating and disappointment in love. Her story is relatable to women because she talks about coercive control, gender inequality, motherhood, fertility treatment and its side effects - all of which are hot button trending issues. Her soulful connection with her dog is relatable to everyone who has or ever had a pet.
Maybe in a few years she’ll write about perimenopause and menopause and explain what options (medical, herbal or meditative) she chose for flourishing in her fifties, another non-electoral connection to the masses as a global citizen.
LINK TO REVIEW ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/B5SYxNr0yS4
March 15, 2026
Sometimes I end up accidentally reading multiple books in a row with the same central theme - this week’s theme seems to be “memoirs with using animal/bird motifs to describe a privileged woman going through a relationship breakdown with a narcissistic man”.
I’m not complaining, the writing is brilliant.
I’m not complaining, the writing is brilliant.
November 26, 2025
"I have sat with grief too long in my life. But something changed for me in the wake of this loss. I decided that I wouldn't live any longer as a servant of fear and sadness. I learned to let go."
A nicely written, bite-sized memoir which makes us reflect on life, particularly on our relationship with animals. It’s deeply honest. Informative, too. But I can’t say I found it very engaging; I suppose most of its themes didn’t really interest me—toxic relationships, the need for motherhood, signs from the universe, dogs (yeah, I should definitely read the summary properly next time)—though I’m glad the author eventually reached for the happiness she deserves. And I’m sure her text will help readers in similar situations.
Thanks to Scribner via NetGalley for the ARC!
A nicely written, bite-sized memoir which makes us reflect on life, particularly on our relationship with animals. It’s deeply honest. Informative, too. But I can’t say I found it very engaging; I suppose most of its themes didn’t really interest me—toxic relationships, the need for motherhood, signs from the universe, dogs (yeah, I should definitely read the summary properly next time)—though I’m glad the author eventually reached for the happiness she deserves. And I’m sure her text will help readers in similar situations.
Thanks to Scribner via NetGalley for the ARC!
February 2, 2026
Novelist and journalist Fatima Bhutto jumps right into the fray in the opening section of her new memoir, THE HOUR OF THE WOLF. This story, originally published in the journal Granta, focuses on the harrowing and heartbreaking first pregnancy of her Jack Russell terrier, Coco. It results in a stillbirth, and Bhutto observes Coco seeming to grieve her loss, in part by adopting (against her vet's advice) Bhutto's own hand as a substitute for her missing pup.
This chapter is at times difficult to read. But it also helps set up several of the themes to which Bhutto will return throughout the memoir, especially the pain of loss, the longing for motherhood, and the strong bond between dogs and their humans.
Throughout, Bhutto relates specific anecdotes about her life with Coco (and, later, with the puppies resulting from a subsequent successful pregnancy), interspersing them with more philosophical and scientific reflections on the historical, cultural and psychological bonds between people and dogs. These anecdotes serve to provide a background of love and constancy that sustain Bhutto, even as the rest of her life grows increasingly stressful and chaotic.
The source of much of this stress is Bhutto’s long-distance romantic partner, known throughout only as "the man." She portrays him as charismatic, almost magnetic, especially in public, but increasingly volatile and emotionally abusive in private. She describes how, over the course of a few years in her late 30s, she repeatedly considers ending their relationship, only to be convinced to make it work a little longer. Part of her impetus for staying with the man is her overwhelming desire to become a mother. Although he exhibits little desire to make a family with her, he offers just enough hope to keep her dangling.
In the background of this developing story is Bhutto's history of loss, specifically the violent death of her father when she was a teenager (which she wrote in a previous memoir). She offers just enough detail about those events here for readers to understand how that prior trauma might affect her more recent relational circumstances.
Fittingly, it's the man's disturbing behavior toward Coco and her pups that finally gives Bhutto the strength to step away and start over. In doing so, she expresses gratitude to her dogs for encouraging her to take time to stop dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, but instead "to remember only that we must live now and do so with purity, free of fear and alive with the possibilities of wonder."
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
This chapter is at times difficult to read. But it also helps set up several of the themes to which Bhutto will return throughout the memoir, especially the pain of loss, the longing for motherhood, and the strong bond between dogs and their humans.
Throughout, Bhutto relates specific anecdotes about her life with Coco (and, later, with the puppies resulting from a subsequent successful pregnancy), interspersing them with more philosophical and scientific reflections on the historical, cultural and psychological bonds between people and dogs. These anecdotes serve to provide a background of love and constancy that sustain Bhutto, even as the rest of her life grows increasingly stressful and chaotic.
The source of much of this stress is Bhutto’s long-distance romantic partner, known throughout only as "the man." She portrays him as charismatic, almost magnetic, especially in public, but increasingly volatile and emotionally abusive in private. She describes how, over the course of a few years in her late 30s, she repeatedly considers ending their relationship, only to be convinced to make it work a little longer. Part of her impetus for staying with the man is her overwhelming desire to become a mother. Although he exhibits little desire to make a family with her, he offers just enough hope to keep her dangling.
In the background of this developing story is Bhutto's history of loss, specifically the violent death of her father when she was a teenager (which she wrote in a previous memoir). She offers just enough detail about those events here for readers to understand how that prior trauma might affect her more recent relational circumstances.
Fittingly, it's the man's disturbing behavior toward Coco and her pups that finally gives Bhutto the strength to step away and start over. In doing so, she expresses gratitude to her dogs for encouraging her to take time to stop dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, but instead "to remember only that we must live now and do so with purity, free of fear and alive with the possibilities of wonder."
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
An absolutely stunning offering of a book from Fatima Bhutto. I was gripped from the first sentence and read it breathlessly over the last couple of days. Universal themes of grief, longing, low self-worth, the need for a saviour and the romance of thinking you found one, the solace found in animals, the solace found in stories, myths, religion and friendship. This is a heavy read, so be forewarned. But the strength and succour Fatima finds from her friends and loyal canine companions, and the beautiful ending make it more than worthwhile. The curelty and abuses 'the man' inflicted upon Fatima were horribly familiar, and she perfectly explains what it is to lose your reason and objectivity to manipulation enacted when you are in a vulnerable position. So much violence is inflicted on women and animals in the wider world, but indiviudally we can find the strength to overcome and to help others.
'It burns to think of myself as weak. I spent so long, it feels like all my life, fighting forces so much larger than myself. I have only ever wanted to be fearless, no matter the tremors of my many, many fears. Deep down I know that I am writing this book because for periods, long periods, I was isolated in controlling relationships. I was not able to tell anyone about either my stepmother or the man for a very long time, because I wanted to protect them but also largely because I never thought someone like me, strong-willed and independent, could be in danger of entrapment. I wanted to be strong so much I convinced myself that those relationships were normal, acceptable. What I deserved, And I wilfully ignored the fact that I should have been concerned with protecting myself rather than them.'
'To live without certainty and love people as they need to be loved, without wanting anything in return, without anticipation or worry…this, for me, has been a liberation. To learn, very belatedly, that love can and must uplift you and illuminate you instead of oppressing and wounding you has been a joyous discovery. More than joyous, it has been transformative, it has been radicalising. '
'It burns to think of myself as weak. I spent so long, it feels like all my life, fighting forces so much larger than myself. I have only ever wanted to be fearless, no matter the tremors of my many, many fears. Deep down I know that I am writing this book because for periods, long periods, I was isolated in controlling relationships. I was not able to tell anyone about either my stepmother or the man for a very long time, because I wanted to protect them but also largely because I never thought someone like me, strong-willed and independent, could be in danger of entrapment. I wanted to be strong so much I convinced myself that those relationships were normal, acceptable. What I deserved, And I wilfully ignored the fact that I should have been concerned with protecting myself rather than them.'
'To live without certainty and love people as they need to be loved, without wanting anything in return, without anticipation or worry…this, for me, has been a liberation. To learn, very belatedly, that love can and must uplift you and illuminate you instead of oppressing and wounding you has been a joyous discovery. More than joyous, it has been transformative, it has been radicalising. '
January 28, 2026
Happy Pub Day!!! @fbhutto 🎉
The memoir is poignant reflection about human relationships with animals and human alike. Often times we forget the way we interact with others can have an impact on their psyche for years to come. It is important to treat everyone with kindness and be the voice of the voiceless. 🔊
As someone who is also from the same city and country as Fatima Bhutto, I didn't see the difference in how animals are treated there until after I moved away. My family never had pets except for a fish tank that didn't last long. No one in my friends or family had a dog or cat as a pet. It wasn't until I met Kitty (who came as a package with my current husband) that I learnt to love someone so deeply. It has changed my perspective of how I see animals around me. I am more softer and have more patience not only with animals but with humans too. 🫂
More than that her story about heartbreak spoke to me deeply. As someone who was in a relationship and despite being an independent woman, I wasn't able to notice the red flags either. It made me realise that its not about being confident to leave, it's more about where you are in the moment and how you feel about yourself. Sometimes they threaten or hurt who you love more than yourself that it opens your eyes. ✨
Definitely recommend everyone to read this reflective yet heartbreaking memoir! Thank you @scribnerbooks and @netgalley for the ARC!! ❤️
The memoir is poignant reflection about human relationships with animals and human alike. Often times we forget the way we interact with others can have an impact on their psyche for years to come. It is important to treat everyone with kindness and be the voice of the voiceless. 🔊
As someone who is also from the same city and country as Fatima Bhutto, I didn't see the difference in how animals are treated there until after I moved away. My family never had pets except for a fish tank that didn't last long. No one in my friends or family had a dog or cat as a pet. It wasn't until I met Kitty (who came as a package with my current husband) that I learnt to love someone so deeply. It has changed my perspective of how I see animals around me. I am more softer and have more patience not only with animals but with humans too. 🫂
More than that her story about heartbreak spoke to me deeply. As someone who was in a relationship and despite being an independent woman, I wasn't able to notice the red flags either. It made me realise that its not about being confident to leave, it's more about where you are in the moment and how you feel about yourself. Sometimes they threaten or hurt who you love more than yourself that it opens your eyes. ✨
Definitely recommend everyone to read this reflective yet heartbreaking memoir! Thank you @scribnerbooks and @netgalley for the ARC!! ❤️
May 3, 2026
The author, a member of a prominent Pakistani political dynasty, writes about her loving relationship with her father and his assassination. She briefly discusses her manipulative and controlling stepmother before pivoting to the story of her long-term relationship with an unidentified man. She references the former as leaving her vulnerable and afraid of losing those she loves. This lays the groundwork for describing the psychologically abusive relationship with the man, which was kept secret (his identity is not revealed) at his behest. The man manipulated her and hurt her by his erratic, inconsiderate and oftentimes mean behavior.
Juxtaposed against that is the story of her dog, Coco, who provided her with unconditional love and support during this trying time when the man denied her what she wanted most. … love, marriage and children. With the help of a devoted friend, and Coco and her puppies, the author was able to see the relationship as abusive and doomed never to fulfill her wishes. It gave her the strength to end it, and as related in the epilogue find happiness with a man she met in a restaurant and fulfill her dreams of marriage and a family.
The chapters in this book are episodic. They often read as if they are a series of magazine articles that were compiled to form a book. Nevertheless, strung together they form an interesting read.
The book rates 4.5 stars.
Juxtaposed against that is the story of her dog, Coco, who provided her with unconditional love and support during this trying time when the man denied her what she wanted most. … love, marriage and children. With the help of a devoted friend, and Coco and her puppies, the author was able to see the relationship as abusive and doomed never to fulfill her wishes. It gave her the strength to end it, and as related in the epilogue find happiness with a man she met in a restaurant and fulfill her dreams of marriage and a family.
The chapters in this book are episodic. They often read as if they are a series of magazine articles that were compiled to form a book. Nevertheless, strung together they form an interesting read.
The book rates 4.5 stars.
March 30, 2026
I am so moved by this instinct we have that transcends everything, every possible barrier, to connect. Whatever our circumstances and whatever those around us, we are built to respond to kindness, to warmth.
Deeply disappointing. I picked up this book because of the interesting personal story that it promised, and was met with pages upon pages of uninteresting philosophical musings that offer nothing new. If you're going to extensively quote other authors and thinkers, your own prose better hold up— not true in this case, where the material she's quoting is better than what she's written. She tells on herself after a paragraph reflecting on the terrible state of the world, asking whether she's writing this to get the reader to take her seriously. And that's what it reads as— an attempt to add more gravity to a personal story. But it's okay for a memoir to only be personal and not make half-assed attempts to decry every societal evil.
Also, despite writing a book about loving and respecting animals in their own right & trying to learn the lessons they embody, she has a palpable disdain for cats (because of their "lack of affection") and, more disturbingly, puts her own dog through pregnancy twice— after her dog was severely ill/traumatized by the first time— to fulfill her own unmet needs of motherhood. Messed up!
February 4, 2026
In this slim but profound memoir, THE HOUR OF THE WOLF, writer and activist, Fatima Bhutto, shares how she found the strength and grace to remove herself from an eleven-year relationship with an older man who tried to break her spirit with his control and cruelty. All this and so much more has happened either to us or to someone we know.
When writers share such deeply personal and private stories of struggle and shame (and shaming), first and foremost, they do so to help others. Readers are given a language for their own suffering so that they can identify and recognize patterns of abuse and see a blueprint for survival and triumph.
The reader is able to say to herself:
“You?
Really, you too?
Oh, so I’m not alone?
Ah.”
Books like this help to slowly but surely shift shame and shaming.
How brave and generous to gift us such a thing.
I enjoyed the erudite writing. I enjoyed her pulling material from other cultures and religions (including Islam) and I really enjoyed her warm, generous story-telling.
Strongly recommend.
When writers share such deeply personal and private stories of struggle and shame (and shaming), first and foremost, they do so to help others. Readers are given a language for their own suffering so that they can identify and recognize patterns of abuse and see a blueprint for survival and triumph.
The reader is able to say to herself:
“You?
Really, you too?
Oh, so I’m not alone?
Ah.”
Books like this help to slowly but surely shift shame and shaming.
How brave and generous to gift us such a thing.
I enjoyed the erudite writing. I enjoyed her pulling material from other cultures and religions (including Islam) and I really enjoyed her warm, generous story-telling.
Strongly recommend.
November 23, 2025
I love when this went into the bond between men and dogs that has been around for thousands of years and that as long as dogs exist, we will never be lonely tied with how lonely "The Man" made her feel and the solace she found in her dog, however I felt there was not enough substance there to sustain a whole book so multiple times in went into the history of deer, climate change, and Covid which only felt loosely related to the rest of the story. I did really like the writing style and multiple lines made me nod my head since truer words could not be spoken, but I wish it stayed on the topic that intrigued me to this story in the first place
March 13, 2026
Been a long time since I read anything that sparked spontaneous tears for memories and experiences that weren’t mine, yet felt so visceral they may have been. Went into this memoir blind, and wow, I’m so grateful she penned this love letter to dogs. What do we owe the wild? Literally everything. I’m still processing and will add more later but I loved this raw, authentic, and beautiful encapsulation of love, grief, and finding oneself again and again through our constant companion reminding us we deserve the love they give us freely. 💗
March 20, 2026
Fatima Bhutto writes a beautifully heartbreaking memoir that ends with a wonderful, well-deserved happy ending.
In The Hour of the Wolf, Bhutto talks about the death of her father at a young age, the loss of a mother figure, and the love of her dog Coco that brings her through it all. All she has dreamed about is having a family. Hers was torn apart when she was little, and as an adult Fatima ends up in a relationship that is nothing but manipulative. After years of believing in “one day" she finally has had enough and makes “one day" today.
Fatima Bhutto brought tears to my eyes when she received the happy ending she desired for so long. This memoir was a great read and I truly recommend checking it out.
In The Hour of the Wolf, Bhutto talks about the death of her father at a young age, the loss of a mother figure, and the love of her dog Coco that brings her through it all. All she has dreamed about is having a family. Hers was torn apart when she was little, and as an adult Fatima ends up in a relationship that is nothing but manipulative. After years of believing in “one day" she finally has had enough and makes “one day" today.
Fatima Bhutto brought tears to my eyes when she received the happy ending she desired for so long. This memoir was a great read and I truly recommend checking it out.
February 2, 2026
I love Fatima Bhutto, I love everything she writes.
Her rawness, strength and vulnerability as a writer are always inspiring.
I do however want and expect more.
I can sense a withholding in her work which I understand is necessary and required but I hope one day the writer in her will throw caution to the wind and go for it anyways.
Her rawness, strength and vulnerability as a writer are always inspiring.
I do however want and expect more.
I can sense a withholding in her work which I understand is necessary and required but I hope one day the writer in her will throw caution to the wind and go for it anyways.
February 8, 2026
More than a memoir, this is story of longing for love and compassion and of a person who is in eagerly vying for having a baby but the man whom she loves looks for fulfilling her desire is not serious. Writer tries to fill the void of her child by showering love to the puppies.
Overall an interesting memoir.
Overall an interesting memoir.
March 25, 2026
This is a raw and honest memoir about navigating grief and the longing for motherhood while trapped in a toxic, unfaithful relationship. I loved the deep connection the author shares with her dogs, but the cycle of broken promises from her partner made for a heavy and sometimes frustrating read. A poignant look at how we find strength in animals when humans let us down.
February 5, 2026
Pandemic-era memoir from the scarred daughter of assassinated Pakistani politician. A troubled love affair with a man and a sweet love affair with a dog. A paean to living with Nature, along with longing, loss, betrayal and cruelty. Beautifully written. Nothing groundbreaking.
April 9, 2026
Tense,atmospheric thriller that explores identity power and moral ambiguity.Writer crafts a haunting narrative with sharp prose and psychological depth.The story grips with suspense while probing complex human motives,leaving a lingering sense of unease and thought provoking questions.
April 29, 2026
So so emotional!! Dogs are truly a man’s best friend. The whole book was written very well, so honest and quite emotional. I had to remind myself to get it together when the author explained the love she had for dog, Coco, and how she saved her.
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