Lead Review (Uprising)

• Book: Uprising
• Location: Mongla
• Author: Tahmima Anam

Review Author: tripfiction

Uprising by Tahmima Anam, short novel set in Bangladesh.

By the river in Mongla, Bangladesh (the gateway to the Sundarbans) in the Bengal Delta lies a long and narrow, desolate and sinking island, where women are held in a prostitute community against their will. It is ruled by Amma, a woman who unyieldingly wields her power. Men come to the island, children are born and still the misery continues.

Reviews describe the story as ‘unflinching” and indeed it is, but then it turns its attention to the children of these women, who create a world for themselves. Throughout the narrative the older women, who are servicing the men, are described as the ‘mothers’.

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In the story, Kusum is singled out for the particular trauma she has to bear. She is made pregnant, she is led to believe that a punter – Farid – will make her his own when she gives birth to a boy. He already has a wife, he wants to take the child and there is nothing she can do. Inevitably depression follows. She is not the only woman who produces offspring, the baby females are taken away as an investment for the future, the  mothers continue with their trade, now attracting men who have a proclivity for lactating females. And yes, if you are asking as you read this review, I did find it hard and repulsive to read in parts!

But Amma does not maintain her hold over the women forever and this story delves into to the dynamics of a group of women who have been cowed into submission, who demonstrate aspects of Stockholm Syndrome yet also long for something different, nevertheless wondering what ‘freedom’ actually means. There are nods to Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid’s Tale as the group dynamics change and evolve.

This is indeed an unflinching look at forced prostitution, the power dynamics between men and women and the projection of blame on to innocent parties – the people on the mainland for the most part see the women incarcerated on the island as evil sirens, luring the hapless and feckless men who cannot withstand the temptation.

A story – bleak at times – with a wider and powerful resonance across society today.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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