In this compelling historical debut three extraordinary women are forced on a journey of
survival during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II. Hong Kong 1941.
Following the Japanese occupation of Shanghai the wealthy Tang family flee to Hong Kong
believing it to be protected under British occupation. As the First Wife of the family Mingzhu
leads a sheltered - if lonely - existence overseeing her daughter Qiang's education while
managing the household alongside her devoted maid Biyu. But when the Japanese army invade
the three women are scattered. Mingzhu's affinity for languages spares her from physical labour
but she is coerced into working for a Japanese captain. Qiang and Biyu escape the island only
to be forced into factory work until an encounter with the East River Column Resistance
fighters separates them once more. 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.
