The Monsoon War: A Novel

By Bina Shah

The acclaimed author of Before She Sleeps returns to a feminist dystopia in this novel of women rising up to break the bonds of polygamy and repression.
 
In a country bent on controlling women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, a resistance has formed. An armed group of women known as the Hamiyat have made a name for themselves protecting those too weak to fight back. And now they are going on the offensive . . .
 
Three women among its ranks must make the hardest choices of their lives. Alia Musa, wife of three husbands, joins the Hamiyat to stand up for the daughters she loves. Young soldier Katy Azadeh is kidnapped and finds her beliefs sorely tested by the country of Eastern Semitia and its seductive promises, while commander Fatima Kara must weigh the balance of her soldiers’ lives against a once-in-a-lifetime gambit for freedom.
 
Called “a haunting, dystopian thriller . . . [that] fans of The Handmaid’s Tale won’t want to miss,” Before She Sleeps was just the beginning, awakening readers to an all-too-believable future (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Now The Monsoon War will take you to the front lines of a desperate battle against a government standing on the necks of the women they thought were broken.

“A cinematic mashup of spy tale, geopolitical [science-fiction], and war epic.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Betrayals, reversals, action and nail-biting suspense make for an addictive story . . . and the characters and their incandescent fellowship will keep you obsessed.” —The Washington Post
 
Praise for Before She Sleeps
 
“Female-centered #Dystopia from #Pakistan: Before She Sleeps, Bina Shah. Fascinating new angle on ‘emotional work’!” —Margaret Atwood on Twitter
 
“The most subtly disturbing of dystopias, richly textured and appallingly intimate, Before She Sleeps has hints of Huxley and Atwood but is uniquely Bina Shah.” —Nick Harkaway, author of Gnomon
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Delphinium Books
• Release date: May 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781504083065

Bina Shah

BINA SHAH is a writer of English fiction and a journalist living in Karachi, Pakistan. She is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories, including Slum Child, which was a best seller in Italy. A regular contributor to the International New York Times, she is a provocative and bold commentator for the international press on Pakistan’s society, culture, and women’s rights. Her most recent novel, A Season for Martyrs, originally published by Delphinium in 2014, was published in France and India in 2016. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an alum of the International Writers Program at the University of Iowa.