"Provocative yet thoughtful and empathetic, this short emotionally intelligent novel about a small island of sex workers is incredibly powerful."
An intense energy and force thrums through the pages of this novel and the feelings it evoked will stay with me. A madam, herself a product of slavery, keeps and works women prisoners on a floating brothel; when an intelligent young woman is sold to the island she attempts to inspire an uprising. Author Tahmima Anam wrote Uprising fifteen years after visiting a floating brothel in Bangladesh as a journalist.
It is obvious that the experience had a huge impact and this novel speaks with an eloquence of the importance of protesting oppression and injustice. Short intense chapters are headed by pivotal moments and people, each chapter hitting with precision. The children of the women, young girls allowed to stay on the island, know their likely fate yet hope keeps them company.
There are exquisite moments of lightness, of innocence, and kindness that feel absolutely necessary against the storm of pain that is described by the children with such frank sincerity. The island itself and the weather and natural world surrounding it take on huge importance. The descriptive detailing of even the smallest of things is beautifully handled, it allows you to step foot on this island, to empathise, to almost touch understanding.
This feels incredibly powerful and important and so joins our LoveReading Star Books and is a Liz Pick of the Month. Fierce and resolute, Uprising sings a provocative and captivating song that deserves to be heard.
AN ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION FINALIST 2026A 2026 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN'A miracle' SALMAN RUSHDIE'Extraordinary . . . A page-turner as well as a perfectly crafted work of art' Harper's Bazaar'Captivating, gripped me from the first page' ELIF SHAFAK'Profound . . . Anam's best work yet' Financial Times'Part holy legend, part undeniable, illuminating prophecy of how we will overcome' V.V. GANESHANANTHAN On an island slowly disappearing beneath the sea, the daughters of a brothel grow up watching their mothers trapped in a cycle of violence and oppression. When a young, educated woman from the city arrives and refuses to yield, she ignites a rebellion that shatters generations of servitude, one which asks the women to imagine a different life - and to risk everything for the chance to be free.
| Primary Genre | Literary Fiction |
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AN ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION FINALIST 2026A 2026 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN'A miracle' SALMAN RUSHDIE'Extraordinary . . . A page-turner as well as a perfectly crafted work of art' Harper's Bazaar'Captivating, gripped me from the first page' ELIF SHAFAK'Profound . . .
Uprising features in the following genres: Book Club Recommendations, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Literary Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Sharing Diverse Voices, Shorter Reads, Narrative theme: Social issues, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Sexual abuse and harassment, Human trafficking
Paperback, Hardback. £8.99, down from the £9.99 cover price. Pre-order. 25th February 2027.
Uprising was written by Tahmima Anam and published by Canongate an imprint of Canongate Books
Uprising has 208 pages
£8.99, reduced from £9.99. Pre-order. 25th February 2027.
