October 2026
Forcing Mutiara and Maya to confront long—concealed secrets—and the cursed prophecies of their enigmatic grandmother - allows Paramaditha to blend feminism, folklore, Islamic mysticism, and the modern politics of radicalism and violence in a stunning novel that is hard to pigeonhole into any one genre. Into the bold mix, too, comes the treatment of trans people in the modern world. Among the people killed in Annisa and her husband Muhammed’s attack are those attending an Islamic study group for trans women. a friend, and former family servant, says plaintively of those particular victims, “people like us, no one cares if we die”.
