WINNER OF THE 2026 INDIE BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE

An epic and emotional story of three spirited women - a mother, her daughter, their maid - during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

1941. 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.

'A heartbreaking, moving, and soaring novel. An important literary feat from an exciting new voice' NGUYEN PHAN QUE MAI, global bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child

'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

'Yin's poignant novel celebrates the enduring love that can unite women' WEST AUSTRALIAN

'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

'This beautifully complex, thoroughly researched novel is both a love story and an historical revelation . . . A story that cried out to be told, with its its compassion and its clear new eyes' LIVING ARTS CANBERRA

'Deeply empathetic . . . Written in atmospheric prose and propelled by an urgent narrative pulse, When Sleeping Women Wake is an immersive and compelling read' BOOKS+

Australian Fiction Bestsellers

Gravity Let Me Go: The astonishing new novel from the bestselling author of BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE and LOLA IN THE MIRROR

Fireweather

When Sleeping Women Wake

Mad Mabel

A Great Act of Love

Here One Moment

The Husband's Secret

The Book Thief

Discipline

Swallow

Return to Valetto

The Last Resort