Uprising
Published on 21. May 2026
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-83726-581-7 (ISBN)
Description
ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION FINALIST 2026
A 2026 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN
'A miracle' SALMAN RUSHDIE
'Captivating, gripped me from the first page' ELIF SHAFAK
'An unflinching, violent storm of a novel' TASH AW
'Profound . . . Anam's best work yet' Financial Times
'Unwaveringly political and unflinchingly forthright' Guardian
'A dark, brazen fairytale' LEILA ABOULELA
'Part holy legend, part undeniable, illuminating prophecy of how we will overcome' V.V. GANESHANANTHAN
Any moment now, we would grow up, and we would become them, waking late and hungry and with a job that had no name
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.
A 2026 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE OBSERVER, FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN
'A miracle' SALMAN RUSHDIE
'Captivating, gripped me from the first page' ELIF SHAFAK
'An unflinching, violent storm of a novel' TASH AW
'Profound . . . Anam's best work yet' Financial Times
'Unwaveringly political and unflinchingly forthright' Guardian
'A dark, brazen fairytale' LEILA ABOULELA
'Part holy legend, part undeniable, illuminating prophecy of how we will overcome' V.V. GANESHANANTHAN
Any moment now, we would grow up, and we would become them, waking late and hungry and with a job that had no name
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.
Reviews / Votes
Captivating, gripped me from the first page and when I finished my heart was full -- ELIF SHAFAK Tahmima Anam has written a kind of miracle. She has taken lives of awful hardship and woven from them a fable of terrible beauty. Uprising is extraordinary -- SALMAN RUSHDIE Anam's prose - a blend of rhapsody and cackling coarseness - is crystalline . . . Uprising is only a slim volume, but it throbs with mesmeric power * * Telegraph * * Dark, intense and powerful, this is a heart-breaking story . . . Uprising will leave you breathless -- Orwell Prize for Political Fiction judges An incantatory and fiery new novel of female defiance . . . Uprising is a feminist novel and a protest novel. It is a coming-of-age novel, and a response to the climate crisis; a story of sisterhood . . . Unwaveringly political and unflinchingly forthright. Anam shows the power of rage and radical hope. A new world can burn bright from the fires of injustice - and here, it's the mothers that hold the match * * Guardian * * Anam's novel of rebellion is her finest to date . . . this fable of oppression draws on one of Bangladesh's real-life exploitative brothels as well as its revolutions . . . Thoughtful and restrained, this slim, profound book is Anam's best work yet * * Financial Times * * I don't know if there's any story I wouldn't trust Tahmima Anam to tell. Uprising has all the ferocity and tenderness I want in a book, and Kusum is a heroine for the ages. Anam's words, as powerful as always, show us our brutal world and open an irresistible door to the better one beyond it. Let her beckon you to your best self with this brilliant, magical novel that's part irrefutable reality, part holy legend, part undeniable, illuminating prophecy of how we will overcome -- V.V. GANESHANANTHAN, Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction An unflinching, violent storm of a novel, yet also full of humanity. It broadens our understanding of how literature can capture life in all its ugliness and glory - a magnificent achievement -- TASH AW Uprising is extraordinary . . . A page-turner as well as a perfectly crafted work of art . . . A hymn to collective action * * Harper's Bazaar * * An urgent, collective-voice novel . . . I loved it -- ALEX PRESTON * * Observer * *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
316 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83726-581-7 (9781837265817)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tahmima Anam is the author of the Bengal trilogy and a recipient of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book and the O. Henry Award. Her short story 'Garments' was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. She is a Granta Best of Young British Novelist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she trained as an anthropologist at Harvard University and now lives in London.