Career
Her creative work focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of Pakistani women and their often unconventional choices in life. Her work also deals with the Asian experience in the United States, the conflict between the two worlds and the culture of her adopted country. Several academic institutions have adopted her books as course study or recommended reading.
Abdullah"s 2005 debut book, Beyond the Cayenne Wall is a collection of short stories about Pakistani women struggling to find their individualities despite the barriers imposed by society.
My Friend Suhana coauthored with Abdullah’s daughter Aanyah discusses cerebral palsy and uncommon friendships, while A Manual for Marco is about sibling relationships when dealing with autism. Rani in Search of a Rainbow discusses the 2010 Pakistan floods and provides a tool for children to make sense of natural disasters.
Several academic institutions have adopted Saffron Dreams as course study or recommended reading. The work has also been used as a basis for several presentations and papers.
In early 2014, a research team from Washington and Lee University conducted a study in which they found that reading a 3,000-word extract from Saffron Dreams can make you less racist.
The novel is also cited as 50 Greatest Works of Immigration Literature by Open Education Database.
