Jan 26, 2022
“In a land saturated with millennia of history and the burden of very conservative social and religious views, two young women seek to pursue careers in areas that are not common at that time for those of their gender. One is committed to becoming a physician and is one of the first in her country to attend a new all-female medical college. The other believes in the role that the law plays in protecting the lives and welfare of others. These two extraordinary women find each other in the heat and desert air of the Indus Valley, and as each strives to achieve within their chosen professions, they come to find that their dedication to the welfare of others has led them to discovering a loving, supportive relationship in a society that is not supportive of either of their careers or of the love they have found.
Dr. Sarah and Inspector Tanya are drawn together by the medical challenges that Sarah faces and the legal demands that Tanya must fulfill. As they face a series of sometimes painful and even tragic situations together, their relationship grows until they realize that for them to meet the needs of their own hearts, they must find a new way.
Dr. Shireen Magedin has brought the reality of living in Sindh, the Indus Valley of Pakistan, being women in socially unconventional careers, facing the harsh reality of death, abuse, and corruption, while finding love in a socially constrained society to life in LIFELINES. Her own experiences through medical school, and in living both in Sindh and in Europe bring a gritty realism to this book, while tempering it with the gentle story of Dr. Sarah’s constant, loving and supportive relationship that grows over time with the dedicated Police Inspector who is the love of her life. As these two face the reality of their lives, they find succor in one another when times are rough – and I found the realism and perception of the author in both the growth of the relationship and the harsh reality of medical school and law enforcement in a male dominated society to be compelling.”
– Review by Taylor Rickard, Bestselling Author “Words Heard in Silence” and “Redmond Family Saga”
Jan 20, 2022
I was just thinking today, imagine if someone interviewed Dr. Sarah Shah, the main character of Lifelines, what would she say? Well, I did ask her and this is what she said to me when I asked her when and how she was inspired to be a doctor:
“I have always wanted to become a doctor. Yes, it sounds cliched, but I really did want to become a doctor, obsessively so, and wear that cool “thingy” called a stethoscope around my neck, ever since I was four years old. Whenever I would see a falling star, I would shut my eyes tight and pray with all of my little being to whatever supreme power was out there, to help me become a doctor. The passion to be a healer in such a small person was at times simply overwhelming.
What inspired me? A four-year-old? Nothing quite as dramatic as one might think. It just so happened that I had my tonsils taken out at the Great Ormond Hospital for Sick Children in London. Yes, the same hospital that receives all the Peter Pan royalties. There was this gorgeous rocking horse at the foot of my bed…. he had real eyelashes! In those days where even minor surgeries warranted a week-long stay in the hospital, I would wake up every morning just to look with adoration at that vintage rocking horse.
The bustle of the nurses, the symmetry of the cots in the children’s ward, oh, yes, and the smell of disinfectant (weird, isn’t it?), did make an impression on me. After all, I don’t think a life’s path is based on a Horsie with beautiful eyelashes. Or is it?
I was devastated when I had to go back home. My mama said I could go back if I wished, but not as a patient. I had to grow up, be good, go to school and become a doctor. Then I could go and play with Horsie in the children’s ward (From then onwards I would always ask “Oh, when will I grow up?”).
I guess I was a determined little thing, even at four. So, I pulled up my socks, tied my laces and marched resolutely down the path Horsie had set for me, and went to conquer and tame the dragon of education. To ultimately swing a red Littman stethoscope in my hands, with a magnetic miniature lion clinging on it for dear life. That I heard the siren song and felt that inherent calling to be a healer did definitely count, I suppose.”
Wow! She was a determined child wasn’t she? Well I am sure you will find out more about her journey through medical college, her dedication to her profession as well as her true love when you read Lifelines.
Jan 16, 2022
Well this is exciting! The first review for Lifelines has been posted by Readers’ Favorite!
Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite
Lifelines by Shireen Magedin is a sweet, romantic drama set in rural Pakistan in 1975. Sarah Shah is a naïve seventeen-year-old when she heads off to Medical School in Nawabshah. One of the people she meets on her very first day is the newly-appointed Police Inspector, Tanya Kareem. Tanya, the first female police inspector for the district, is well aware that to succeed in a man’s world, especially in a Muslim country like Pakistan, she has to be not only faultless at her job but perfect in her private life as well.
There is one problem, however; Tanya prefers women over men, something she has known since she was a young woman and also something that saw her thrown out of her family and effectively disowned by them. Determined to make a success of her career in the police force, Tanya has suppressed her own personal desires to ensure her long-term ambition to reach the top of law enforcement. From the very first moment Tanya lays eyes on Sarah, she feels electricity and an attraction that is undeniable.
Deep in her heart, she knows this beautiful young woman may well be the soulmate she has been longing for. As a warm friendship develops between the pair and slowly deepens into an all-consuming love, both these women must consider their futures. If it is possible to seriously build a life together, both know that it must be somewhere away from Pakistan and away from the deep-rooted prejudice and religious intolerance of their sexual orientation.
Lifelines is a gentle, yet still exciting love story, especially as it is set in a society, a culture, and a time when same-sex relationships are not just frowned upon but are considered seriously deviant and against God’s will. Author Shireen Magedin has done a lovely job of exploring these two very different women and their fierce love and protectiveness for each other. Written from a dual perspective, each event in their lives is explored from both Sarah’s and Tanya’s viewpoints.
Although this literary technique has the potential to become repetitive, this author did well to keep the reader’s interest by presenting two women who are markedly different in many ways and view each circumstance from a distinctly different perspective but despite that are still united in their love for each other.
The author is a medical doctor herself and this clearly shows through the story arcs, especially as it pertains to her detailed descriptions of patients’ injuries and illness, as well as detailed knowledge of hospital procedures and surgical techniques. The central theme of the novel is love and this is explored in all its facets, without resorting to crude or lurid details. This was refreshing and a credit to the author.
I particularly enjoyed the sense of anticipation over the two women’s desire to express their love for each other and their concurrent fear of rejection by the other party. The suspense was well built and maintained throughout the bulk of the story, along with a fascinating undercurrent of the supernatural and extrasensory perception. This was a sweet and enjoyable read that I can recommend to lovers of romance with a difference.
Source: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/lifelines/1
Jan 2, 2022
The red lines in the map show the routes where one or the other of the intrepid duo mentioned in the book travel. Its interesting and adventurous. Come join Inspector Tanya and Dr. Sarah in their journey.
Dec 18, 2021
I would like to tell you the story of the journey of a medical student that starts in the ancient Indus Valley, and on the way she creates new lifelines and new lifestyles.
I was sure I would feel the effects of being roughly jostled and flung about later on, but I ignored my discomfort because, as I looked out the window, I was fascinated by the changing and very varied landscape – scorching deserts in a dusty, shimmering haze, and then tantalizing mirages in the horizon followed by oases with fruit-laden date and coconut palms. Alternatively, we would burst upon green banana plantations or lush mango orchards. Then again, we would come upon the seemingly endless mustard fields whose yellow foliage was nearly as breathtaking as Wordsworth’s daffodils. I was pleasantly surprised at the varied and bountiful areas we were passing through. Indubitably, this area was heaven’s fruit basket, but with the weather from hell.
Passing through yet another change in the landscape, I noticed, to my delight, that the workers in the fields were predominantly women. The traditional clothes they wore would give the peacocks languishing in the shade competition.
“Baba, aren’t these women beautiful?” I raved. “I can just imagine what a colorful calendar could be created if one just took their time to capture the colors and the culture.”
My father smiled at my interest and said, “Did you know that in many Sindhi tribes married women had to wear ivory-colored bangles that covered their arms? Your great grandmother used to wear them. She told me that an ideal set would have included seventeen bangles worn on the upper arm and nine on the lower arm; a total of fifty-two bangles on each arm.” My great grandmother?
I listened with interest. “They were never removed, not even during sleep, and were worn during a woman’s entire married life,” my father continued. “It is said that they have magical properties that protects the wearer against the evil eye and supposedly ease birth pains. Obviously, due to the preservation of elephants, and after outlawing the sale of ivory, the expensive bangles of yore have been replaced with cheap plastic ones.”
Would you like to know more? Then keep visiting this site.
My book “LIFELINES” is soon to be published. I assure you that the adventures of Dr. SARAH and Inspector TANYA will be mind boggling!
LIFELINES
Sarah and Tanya find love in an ancient land that spans thousands of years. Can they be the ones to beat the odds where deeply held beliefs and cultural traditions are against them?
Pre-order Now
To Be Released: 25 January 2022
Dec 14, 2021
AUSXIP Publishing Announcement:
We are pleased to announce you can now pre-order Shireen Magedin’s debut novel “Lifelines” from the AUSXIP Publishing Store or via Amazon. Lifelines will be released on January 25, 2022 in ebook and print editions
AVAILABLE IN EBOOK AND PRINT – JANUARY 2022
eBook Pre-Order – 25 January 2022
It’s 1975 in Nawabshah, Pakistan. Sarah and Tanya have fallen in love in an ancient land. Can they withstand the fierce opposition to their forbidden love in a city of deeply held beliefs and cultural traditions?
The world is changing, but not fast enough for Tanya Kareem. Her promotion to police inspector sends her to Nawabshah, where she will have to prove herself and take a leading role in a man’s world.
Sarah Shahzad Shah’s passion for learning and compassion for her patients make her a brilliant doctor in training. But she possesses psychic abilities that she doesn’t know how to master… yet. Those gifts will come in handy when she handles some of her more puzzling cases that lead her to Inspector Tanya Kareem.
Their journey is just beginning.
