Uprising

Hardback Published on: 21/05/2026
Price: £16.99
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Synopsis

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.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Canongate Books
  • ISBN: 9781837265817
  • Number of pages: 208
  • Dimensions: 220 x 141 x 19 mm
  • Weight: 317g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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Uprising
Powerful
Thank you to the publishers for this early review copy. This is a short but very powerful novel about women who are being sold to men for whatever their p... READ MORE
Fiona Sharp
Uprising
A powerful portrayal of female solidarity and resilience
Uprising is one of the most resilient and powerful books on female rage I’ve ever read. Tahmima Anam takes a premise that could easily have been sensationa... READ MORE
Nishtha  Misra
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
Brutal and visceral
The book follows Kusum, a young girl from a poor family in Bangladesh. Like many others, she is sold into sexual slavery and ends up in an island brothel r... READ MORE
Dmitry Podpolny
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
poignant, heart breaking, thought-provoking, important
“Lucky. That’s what they called it when they stole the whole world out of your arms.”One thing I love most about books is being educated about things I did... READ MORE
Elaine Guest
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
An incendiary novel of poverty, patriarchy and protest.
Finalist for the 2026 Orwell Prize (which was the day after I read the book and which I fully expected as this is an excellent fit). Tahmima Anam is... READ MORE
Graham Fulcher
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
Powerful
Tahmima Anam writes here about appalling darkness — trafficking, brutality, inherited misery — yet does so with a surprisingly light touch. That is not to ... READ MORE
Jan Munro
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
A brilliant novel
Uprising by Tahmima Anam is the latest novel from the award winning Bangladeshi writer. This is a dark, unflinching tale whose beating heart is Kusum Khan... READ MORE
Ben Dutton
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
Uprising
Short novel set in BANGLADESH
By the river in Mongla, Bangladesh (the gateway to the Sundarbans) in the Bengal Delta lies a long and narrow, desolate and sinking island, where women are... READ MORE
TripFiction