A landmark exploration of women-led communities worldwide and what they can teach us about new ways to live, think and govern, from BBC global correspondent Megha Mohan.
Society isn’t working for women - or any of us.
But what if the rules were different?
Imagine a world in which women have all the power. A world in which they work together to shape their societies and their futures.
In reality, women's communities have always existed, and continue to thrive. In this vital and groundbreaking book, Megha Mohan goes in search of their roots, discovering a vibrant global history, brought together here for the first time. She also takes us into today's women-led spaces, where women live on their own terms, showing us how we can rethink society for new ways of living, working and collaborating.
Through extensive research and exclusive first-hand reporting, and inspired by her great-grandmother’s own matrilineal community in South India, Mohan introduces us to fascinating and diverse groups of women. From the controversial feminist online trolls of South Korea, to older women co-housing in Paris and North London, and the Rain Queens of South Africa, this is a truly global look at women's community.
Essential reading for anyone interested in our collective histories, cultures, economics and governance, Herlands shows the power and possibility of new ways of living - and leading - for us all.
About the Author
Megha Mohan became the BBC's first global gender and identity correspondent in 2018, covering issues concerning women's rights, LGBT communities, race and ethnicity, for the BBC's language services worldwide. She has investigated the black market for abortion pills in Honduras, the multi-billion-dollar global love coaching industry and gender roles in North Korea's army - a story that ranked among Chartbeat's 100 most-read articles in the world.
Mohan was named in Progress 1000's list of most influential storytellers, and she consulted on Level Up's media guidelines on how to sensitively report on domestic violence. She is also the co-founder of Second Source, a network of women journalists from under-represented backgrounds.
Industry Reviews
A powerful and necessary reminder that women’s leadership is not an exception; it is tradition, it is history, and it is the future. With the clarity and care of a journalist who listens deeply, Megha Mohan honours the systems women have sustained for generations
Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, first woman Prime Minister of Samoa
A lantern in the dark, revealing the quiet power of women-led communities across the globe. With lyrical precision and journalistic integrity, Megha Mohan gathers their stories like sacred threads, weaving a tapestry of resilience, leadership, and radical hope
Sulaima Ishaq, head of Sudan’s Combating Violence Against Women and Children Commission
An immersive and absorbing read from a journalist who takes trust, tone and ethics seriously
Bhavana Menon, award-winning actress who inspired India's Women in Cinema Collective
Since history is often literally His Story, it’s a helpful corrective to have books like Herlands that are about women who have always tried to control our own destinies. Herlands is a valuable introduction to some of them, an inspiration for the future
Gloria Steinem, writer and activist
Herlands chronicles the courage and creativity of women building new worlds against all odds. It captures the values I hold most dearly - sustainability and sisterhood. This book is not only timely but transformative
Dr Hilda C. Heine, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
A deeply fascinating and wonderfully researched exploration of community that will broaden every reader's mind
Dipo Faloyin, author of Africa Is Not A Country
Megha is not your typical journalist. She is a storyteller who takes you by the hand and guides you into the closed and sacred spaces she has access to because people trust her. She approaches her work with warmth, integrity, empathy, deep attentiveness, and all the rigour of a traditional journalist. Herlands is a book we can all learn from - I only wish it had existed sooner
Karishma Patel, media critic and writer
A must-read that challenges prevailing narratives and sparks vital conversations about women's roles across cultures
Marcus Ryder, journalist and co-author of The Big Payback
Mohan takes a truly intersectional approach as she exposes how narratives about women-only spaces from the global south have been ignored by Western feminism, while her own personal story about her family in India or her interviews with women upholding the inherited traditions of women's spaces in Australia show that women building community is nothing new. I can't wait to buy this book for every woman I know
Sian Norris, journalist and author of Bodies Under Siege
Herlands is a much-needed and compassionate reflection on how different we could be if more women had the freedom to design their own environments
Mary Robinson, first woman President of Ireland
Sometimes I am shocked at my own lack of imagination regarding the roles and accomplishments of women through the ages, until I remind myself that we have been deprived of the great depth of storytelling that has focussed so heavily on 'his' story. What a profound, enlightening and overdue gift is Herlands, not only shining light on half of the humans on the planet but on our unique ability to view nature and humanity as one
Maggie Baird, environmentalist
What begins as a book about women’s communities quickly becomes a defiant and moving record of forgotten history, sidelined heroines, and strategies that have transformed the course of entire groups’ wellbeing and progress. In enlightening us on what is, and once was, Megha reminds us that a more empathetic and inclusive future is not only possible - it’s critical
Sophia Smith Galer, journalist and author
Brilliant. A compassionate and incisive journalist, Mohan has set a new gold standard for modern feminist writing
Monisha Rajesh, author of Moonlight Express
