When Sleeping Women Wake
On sale
17th June 2025
Price: £20
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ebook / ISBN-13: 9781529440652
‘A heart-breaking, moving, and soaring novel. An important literary feat from an exciting new voice’ NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MAI, global best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
Hong Kong, 1941. Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family flee to Hong Kong.
As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a sheltered – if lonely – existence overseeing her daughter Qiang and managing the household alongside her devoted maid, Biyu.
But when the Japanese army invade, the three women are scattered. Mingzhu is coerced into working for a Japanese captain. Qiang and Biyu escape the island, only to be forced into factory work then separated after an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters.
The longer the brutal occupation lasts, the more determined the women are to resist. And as war rages around the world, each is holding onto the hope that the other is alive.
Beautifully told and compulsively written, When Sleeping Women Wake is an utterly transporting story of female resistance and untold bravery, at once epic and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful.
Perfect for fans of Lisa See, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Kristin Hannah.
‘A lushly romantic and impassioned story of women’s agency and resilience’ JUHEA KIM
‘Compelling, beautiful, and deeply moving . . . [a] stunning tale of love, loyalty and survival’ WEINA DAI RANDEL
‘A breathtaking, important story of family, love and endurance . . . historical fiction at its finest’ WIZ WHARTON
Hong Kong, 1941. Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family flee to Hong Kong.
As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a sheltered – if lonely – existence overseeing her daughter Qiang and managing the household alongside her devoted maid, Biyu.
But when the Japanese army invade, the three women are scattered. Mingzhu is coerced into working for a Japanese captain. Qiang and Biyu escape the island, only to be forced into factory work then separated after an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters.
The longer the brutal occupation lasts, the more determined the women are to resist. And as war rages around the world, each is holding onto the hope that the other is alive.
Beautifully told and compulsively written, When Sleeping Women Wake is an utterly transporting story of female resistance and untold bravery, at once epic and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful.
Perfect for fans of Lisa See, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Kristin Hannah.
‘A lushly romantic and impassioned story of women’s agency and resilience’ JUHEA KIM
‘Compelling, beautiful, and deeply moving . . . [a] stunning tale of love, loyalty and survival’ WEINA DAI RANDEL
‘A breathtaking, important story of family, love and endurance . . . historical fiction at its finest’ WIZ WHARTON
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Reviews
In this gripping tale, a close band of women are scattered by a ruthless occupation, each finding her own path through resilience, cunning, and taking high-risk chances. Through imprisonment, forced labor, torture, sickness, and starvation, the women have to use their wits and daring to survive. A riveting, fast-paced read.
With vivid historicity and deeply relatable characters, When Sleeping Women Wake is a lushly romantic and impassioned story of women's agency and resilience
Emma Pei Yin weaves a spellbinding tale of transformation, resilience, and the quiet power of awakening. Through evocative prose and a richly drawn sense of place, she brings to life a cast of women whose journeys are as layered as the story itself. A novel of depth and nuance, When Sleeping Women Wake lingers in the mind long after the final page-an exploration of strength, self-discovery, and the landscapes, both internal and external, that shape us.
In When Sleeping Women Wake, three women-a resourceful and literature-loving mother, a strong-willed daughter, and a devoted servant-flee Shanghai to Hong Kong, only to have their lives upended once more by the Japanese invasion during World War II. Separated by the ravages of war, each woman must navigate her own fate amid escalating danger and conflict. Compelling, beautiful, and deeply moving, When Sleeping Women Wake is a powerful tribute to the forgotten women and men who fought and resisted the merciless grip of the Japanese forces during a dark period of Hong Kong's history. Readers of historical fiction will be swept away by this stunning tale of love, loyalty and survival. Emma Pei Yin is a talent to watch!
I devoured Emma Pei Yin's heart-rending, transportive, and action-packed When Sleeping Women Wake in a single day. Brimming with intrigue and fascinating history, this sweeping story of resistance and resilience in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong during WWII brings to life beautifully-drawn characters and paints a gripping portrait of the strength of women's bonds, the hope that springs from love and chance meetings, and the grace of small acts of kindness in the most trying times
When Sleeping Women Wake reminds us that compassion can prevail, even against a ruthless regime that attempted to radicalise its soldiers into seeing the Chinese people as lesser than humans. Emma's debut brought 1940s Hong Kong to life, showing me a lot about its struggles during the Japanese occupation'
A breathtaking, important story of family, love and endurance told with unflinching clarity and beauty, this is historical fiction at its finest. I urge you to read this book
Told from the perspectives of three independent women whose lives are intertwined by fate, this is a skilfully written epic that sheds light on a little-known corner of history - the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Emma Pei Yin breathes exquisite life into this tale of romance, resistance and self-discovery.
All the things I love in a book: strong women, untold history and a rollicking story . . . A total page turner. I can't believe this is Emma Pei Yin's first novel . . . Meticulously researched, brilliantly told and such an eye opener about the women of Hong Kong's resistance movement in World War Two Hong Kong. I loved it.
Yin's debut is a riveting account of the resistance of three very different women during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong-not only against the occupation, but against the traditions that bound them. These are women's stories beautifully intertwined with history brought to life!
A heart-breaking, moving, and soaring novel. An important literary feat from an exciting new voice
When Sleeping Women Wake explores the untold histories of women's war experience under Pei Yin's steady hand and refuses to look away from the violence of war. Courage, strength and power bleed from every page, every chapter brims with tension and turmoil as we navigate war-time Hong Kong and wonder if these women will survive, let alone find each other again. A gripping piece of historical fiction to add to your bookshelf.