The acclaimed author of Before She Sleeps returns to a feminist dystopia in this novel of women rising up to break the bonds of polygamy and repression.
In a country bent on controlling women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, a resistance has formed. An armed group of women known as the Hamiyat have made a name for themselves protecting those too weak to fight back. And now they are going on the offensive . . .
Three women among its ranks must make the hardest choices of their lives. Alia Musa, wife of three husbands, joins the Hamiyat to stand up for the daughters she loves. Young soldier Katy Azadeh is kidnapped and finds her beliefs sorely tested by the country of Eastern Semitia and its seductive promises, while commander Fatima Kara must weigh the balance of her soldiers’ lives against a once-in-a-lifetime gambit for freedom.
Called “a haunting, dystopian thriller . . . [that] fans of The Handmaid’s Tale won’t want to miss,” Before She Sleeps was just the beginning, awakening readers to an all-too-believable future ( Publishers Weekly , starred review). Now The Monsoon War will take you to the front lines of a desperate battle against a government standing on the necks of the women they thought were broken.
“A cinematic mashup of spy tale, geopolitical [science-fiction], and war epic.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Betrayals, reversals, action and nail-biting suspense make for an addictive story . . . and the characters and their incandescent fellowship will keep you obsessed.” — The Washington Post
Praise for Before She Sleeps
“Female-centered #Dystopia from #Pakistan: Before She Sleeps , Bina Shah. Fascinating new angle on ‘emotional work’!” —Margaret Atwood on Twitter
“The most subtly disturbing of dystopias, richly textured and appallingly intimate, Before She Sleeps has hints of Huxley and Atwood but is uniquely Bina Shah.” —Nick Harkaway, author of Gnomon
Review
"Betrayals, reversals, action and nail-biting suspense make for an addictive story... and the characters and their incandescent fellowship will keep you obsessed." — The Washington Post
“Listen to the voice of Bina Shah—you will hear a young, confident, compassionate new Pakistan. Her latest novel not only sparkles with wit and wisdom but is a deeply moving paean to the power of love for the author's Pakistani culture and people.” — Professor Akbar Ahmed, author, playwright, poet, and Chair of Islamic Studies at American University
Praise for Before She Sleeps : “In Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps , women who have survived a deadly strain of HPV are forced to have children with multiple husbands.” — As cited by The Atlantic as one of the preeminent contemporary dystopian novels, July 2022
“Female-centered #Dystopia from #Pakistan: Before She Sleeps , Bina Shah. Fascinating new angle on ‘emotional work’!” — Margaret Atwood on Twitter
“A haunting, dystopian thriller… Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale won’t want to miss this one.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review
“An overdue enlargement of the cultural conversation that [ The Handmaid’s Tale ] continues to provoke.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Charged and thrilling…exquisite…Shah develops her multiple characters beautifully…a thoughtful novel that will stick with me for a very long time.” — Los Angeles Times
“The most subtly disturbing of dystopias, richly textured and appallingly intimate, Before She Sleeps has hints of Huxley and Atwood but is uniquely Bina Shah.” — Nick Harkaway, author of Gnomon and The Gone-Away World
“Gripping, smart and dystopian in the most terrifying way, which is to say that it seems so very possible. Green City is the glossy, AI-powered, deeply misogynistic technocracy of our nightmares, which the free yet confined women of the Panah desperately struggle to defy.” — Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood
“A timely novel of women’s resistance and determination…. Bina Shah has given us a welcome addition to the feminist dystopian thriller that expands the genre beyond a white-centric gaze. Women’s stories and women’s voices—in all our diversity—are important and Bina Shah’s thriller is a necessary reminder.” — Mona Eltahawy, author of Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution
“Shah’s novel is both explicitly connected to Atwood’s marvel [ The Handmaid’s Tale ] and working to expand it by imagining what a secular, Middle Eastern Gilead might look like…. One of the best books of the second half of 2018.” — The Millions
“Provocative.” — Syfy.com, one of the Best Books of the Summer
“ Before She Sleeps stands on its own as a novel that will have readers contemplating rebellion and revolt, sex and power, and the many ways women’s bodies are sacrificed for the good of society.” — Booklist
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Bina Shah is a writer of English fiction and a journalist. She is the author of five novels and two collections of short stories, including Slum Child, which was a best seller in Italy. She was a regular contributor to the International New York Times from 2015-2018, and she is a provocative and bold commentator for the international press on Pakistan’s society, culture, and women’s rights. Her most recent novel, Before She Sleeps, originally published by Delphinium in 2018, has been published in Germany, Turkey, and India. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an alum of the International Writers Program at the University of Iowa. In 2021, she was awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Description:
The acclaimed author of Before She Sleeps returns to a feminist dystopia in this novel of women rising up to break the bonds of polygamy and repression.
In a country bent on controlling women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, a resistance has formed. An armed group of women known as the Hamiyat have made a name for themselves protecting those too weak to fight back. And now they are going on the offensive . . .
Three women among its ranks must make the hardest choices of their lives. Alia Musa, wife of three husbands, joins the Hamiyat to stand up for the daughters she loves. Young soldier Katy Azadeh is kidnapped and finds her beliefs sorely tested by the country of Eastern Semitia and its seductive promises, while commander Fatima Kara must weigh the balance of her soldiers’ lives against a once-in-a-lifetime gambit for freedom.
Called “a haunting, dystopian thriller . . . [that] fans of The Handmaid’s Tale won’t want to miss,” Before She Sleeps was just the beginning, awakening readers to an all-too-believable future ( Publishers Weekly , starred review). Now The Monsoon War will take you to the front lines of a desperate battle against a government standing on the necks of the women they thought were broken.
“A cinematic mashup of spy tale, geopolitical [science-fiction], and war epic.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Betrayals, reversals, action and nail-biting suspense make for an addictive story . . . and the characters and their incandescent fellowship will keep you obsessed.” — The Washington Post
Praise for Before She Sleeps
“Female-centered #Dystopia from #Pakistan: Before She Sleeps , Bina Shah. Fascinating new angle on ‘emotional work’!” —Margaret Atwood on Twitter
“The most subtly disturbing of dystopias, richly textured and appallingly intimate, Before She Sleeps has hints of Huxley and Atwood but is uniquely Bina Shah.” —Nick Harkaway, author of Gnomon
Review
"Betrayals, reversals, action and nail-biting suspense make for an addictive story... and the characters and their incandescent fellowship will keep you obsessed." — The Washington Post
“Listen to the voice of Bina Shah—you will hear a young, confident, compassionate new Pakistan. Her latest novel not only sparkles with wit and wisdom but is a deeply moving paean to the power of love for the author's Pakistani culture and people.” — Professor Akbar Ahmed, author, playwright, poet, and Chair of Islamic Studies at American University
Praise for Before She Sleeps : “In Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps , women who have survived a deadly strain of HPV are forced to have children with multiple husbands.” — As cited by The Atlantic as one of the preeminent contemporary dystopian novels, July 2022
“Female-centered #Dystopia from #Pakistan: Before She Sleeps , Bina Shah. Fascinating new angle on ‘emotional work’!” — Margaret Atwood on Twitter
“A haunting, dystopian thriller… Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale won’t want to miss this one.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review
“An overdue enlargement of the cultural conversation that [ The Handmaid’s Tale ] continues to provoke.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Charged and thrilling…exquisite…Shah develops her multiple characters beautifully…a thoughtful novel that will stick with me for a very long time.” — Los Angeles Times
“The most subtly disturbing of dystopias, richly textured and appallingly intimate, Before She Sleeps has hints of Huxley and Atwood but is uniquely Bina Shah.” — Nick Harkaway, author of Gnomon and The Gone-Away World
“Gripping, smart and dystopian in the most terrifying way, which is to say that it seems so very possible. Green City is the glossy, AI-powered, deeply misogynistic technocracy of our nightmares, which the free yet confined women of the Panah desperately struggle to defy.” — Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood
“A timely novel of women’s resistance and determination…. Bina Shah has given us a welcome addition to the feminist dystopian thriller that expands the genre beyond a white-centric gaze. Women’s stories and women’s voices—in all our diversity—are important and Bina Shah’s thriller is a necessary reminder.” — Mona Eltahawy, author of Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution
“Shah’s novel is both explicitly connected to Atwood’s marvel [ The Handmaid’s Tale ] and working to expand it by imagining what a secular, Middle Eastern Gilead might look like…. One of the best books of the second half of 2018.” — The Millions
“Provocative.” — Syfy.com, one of the Best Books of the Summer
“ Before She Sleeps stands on its own as a novel that will have readers contemplating rebellion and revolt, sex and power, and the many ways women’s bodies are sacrificed for the good of society.” — Booklist
--This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Bina Shah is a writer of English fiction and a journalist. She is the author of five novels and two collections of short stories, including Slum Child, which was a best seller in Italy. She was a regular contributor to the International New York Times from 2015-2018, and she is a provocative and bold commentator for the international press on Pakistan’s society, culture, and women’s rights. Her most recent novel, Before She Sleeps, originally published by Delphinium in 2018, has been published in Germany, Turkey, and India. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an alum of the International Writers Program at the University of Iowa. In 2021, she was awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.