Awais Khan was born in Lahore Pakistan. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario, Durham University and studied Creative Writing at Faber Academy in London, England. He now lives in Lahore. He uses the name A.K. Khan to publish young adult fiction.
Fiction
In the Company of Strangers
Hera Books, 2022.
First published in 2019 by The Book Guild.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
As the wife of a wealthy but cruel businessman, Mona has all her heart desires: money, friends, social status… everything aside from freedom.
Reconnecting with old friend, Meera, introduces her to a world of glamour, parties and covert affairs. And when she meets Ali, a young man whose beautiful exterior hides the pain of his humble roots and family tragedy, Mona feels alive for the very first time.
Heady with love, Mona and Ali begin a delicate game of deceit that spirals out of control. But in a world where danger lurks on every corner, their forbidden love may not only destroy Mona’s marriage, but have tragic and long-lasting consequences.
Fiction
No Honour
London: Orenda Books, 2023.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect. And, yet, her spirit is defiant and she yearns to make a home with the man she loves.
When the unthinkable happens, Abida faces the same fate as other young girls who have chosen unacceptable alliances – certain, public death. Fired by a fierce determination to resist everything she knows to be wrong about the society into which she was born, and aided by her devoted father, Jamil, who puts his own life on the line to help her, she escapes to Lahore and then disappears.
Jamil goes to Lahore in search of Abida – a city where the prejudices that dominate their village take on a new and horrifying form – and father and daughter are caught in a world from which they may never escape.
Moving from the depths of rural Pakistan, riddled with poverty and religious fervour, to the dangerous streets of over-populated Lahore, No Honour is a story of family, of the indomitable spirit of love in its many forms … a story of courage and resilience, when all seems lost, and the inextinguishable fire that lights one young woman’s battle for change.
Fiction
Someone Like Her
London: Orenda Books, 2024.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Multan, Pakistan. A conservative city where an unmarried woman over the age of twenty-five is considered a curse by her family.
Ayesha is twenty-seven. Independent and happily single, she has evaded an arranged marriage because of her family’s reduced circumstances. When she catches the eye of powerful, wealthy Raza, it seems like the answer to her parents’ prayers. But Ayesha is in love with someone else, and when she refuses to give up on him, Raza resorts to unthinkable revenge…
Ayesha travels to London to rebuild her life and there she meets Kamil, an emotionally damaged man who has demons of his own. They embark on a friendship that could mean salvation for both of them, but danger stalks Ayesha in London, too. With her life thrown into turmoil, she is forced to make a decision that could change her and everyone she loves forever.