When Sleeping Women Wake

Winner, Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction (Australian Independent Booksellers) (2026); Longlisted, ARA Historical Novel Prize (2025)

Set during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II, When Sleeping Women Wake is a sweeping and intimate debut that follows three extraordinary women—a refined First Wife, her determined daughter, and their devoted maid—as their lives are violently torn apart by war. As the Tang family’s world collapses, each woman is forced onto a separate path: coerced collaboration, grueling factory labor, and dangerous encounters with the East River Column Resistance. Their stories reveal the fierce courage, sacrifice, and love that emerge when ordinary people are pushed to extraordinary limits.

Join us for a special evening with Emma Pei Yin as she discusses the inspiration behind this powerful novel, the history that shaped it, and the unbreakable bonds at its heart.