An epic and emotional story of three spirited women - a mother, her daughter, their maid - during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong1941. The wealthy Tang family has settled in Hong Kong after fleeing Shanghai. As the First Wife of the family,
Mingzhu leads a glamorous but lonely existence - mothering the son of her husband's concubine, overseeing her daughter
Qiang's education, and directing their household of servants, including her long-time confidante,
Biyu.
When the Japanese invade the island, the three women's paths wildly diverge. Mingzhu's affinity for languages spares her physical labour but she's coerced into serving an enemy captain. Qiang and Biyu suffer brutal factory work and food rations until an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters separates them. As war rages around them, each woman holds onto the hope that the others are alive. Can they fight for their freedom and still find their way back to each other?
Fans of Lisa See, Kristin Hannah and Anthony Doerr, storytellers who blend historical accuracy with personal narrative, will love this book. Through years of impeccable research, Australian-Chinese novelist Emma Pei Yin breathes new life into real events. At once monumental and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful, When Sleeping Women Wake is an exquisitely written novel about the unbreakable bonds that unite women.
About the Author
Emma Pei Yin is an Australian-Hong Kong Chinese writer and editor. Her work has been featured in publications such as
Mekong Review, Being Asian Australian, HerCanberra, Aniko Press, The Hong Kong Review and
Books+Publishing. In 2023, BookPeople and Penguin Random House Australia nominated her as Bookseller of the Year. That same year, her manuscript,
Chasing Echoes in the Rain, was shortlisted for the Allen & Unwin Voices from the Intersection Mentorship Programme. She lives and works on Ngunnawal Country with her partner and their extremely barky dachshund, Lady.
When Sleeping Women Wake is her first novel.
Industry Reviews
'A heartbreaking, moving, and soaring novel. An important literary feat from an exciting new voice. Emma Pei Yin uncovers the hidden history of Hong Kong and lets us befriend the women who have the power to transform us as we witness their journeys of self-discovery and survival' - NGUYEN PHAN QUE MAI, global bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
'When Sleeping Women Wake explores the untold histories of women's war experience under Pei Yin's steady hand. Courage, strength and power bleed from every page, every chapter brims with tension and turmoil . . . A gripping piece of historical fiction to add to your bookshelf' - ALLI PARKER, bestselling author of At the Foot of the Cherry Tree
'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.' - WIZ WHARTON, author of Ghost Girl, Banana
'A story that cried out to be told, with its compassion and its clear new eyes . . . Emma Pei Yin deftly weaves a story of love and choice as much as one of geo-politics' - REGION CANBERRA
