Uprising

Synopsis

A rebellion ignites amongst a community of sex workers on an isolated island in this fiercely moving novel – inspired by the real women of Banishanta, Bangladesh

On a desolate, sinking island, a group of children witness their mothers living lives of cruelty and servitude.

Bought and sold by Amma, the sadistic madam who was once herself sold into slavery, the women have learned to accept their fate. Yet their children weave fantastic tales of escape, imagining that someday they will leave the island and enjoy a life of freedom.

When Kusum Khan, a young, educated woman from the city, is forcibly brought to the island, she too is subjected to Amma’s violent induction. Yet Kusum refuses to yield, and soon the collective complacency of her fellow prisoners turns into ferocity and defiance. Together, they begin a rebellion that will upend their island, their world and the very order of things.

An earth-shattering drama of resistance and female power, Uprising gives voice to the silenced through the story of a revolution no one saw coming.

“Captivating, gripped me from the first page and when I finished my heart was full” – ELIF SHAFAK

Author

Tahmima Anam was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She was selected as a Granta Best of Young British Novelist 2013. Her first novel, A Golden Age, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Costa First Novel Award in 2007, and was the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. Her second novel, The Good Muslim, was shortlisted for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was also longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2011. She lives in London.