Night of a Thousand Hells
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Night of a Thousand Hells
Overview
A genre-defying feminist gothic novel blending Indonesian folklore, Islamic mysticism, horror, and political reckoning.
International literary sensation Intan Paramaditha returns with her most ambitious and haunting work to date. The novel opens with a devastating act: the youngest of three sisters becomes a suicide bomber. In the aftermath, her surviving siblings are forced to confront the violent, buried truths of their family history. Their search leads them to long-concealed secrets, and to the prophecies of their grandmother, whose shadowy wisdom has shaped their fates.
Set across Indonesia, the United States, and Australia, the novel explores class divides, sisterhood, migration, shame, abandonment, and the politics of care — all through a ghostly, atmospheric lens that draws on Asian folktales and occult traditions.
With its blend of political urgency, mythic resonance, and psychological depth, Night of a Thousand Hells is a singular contribution to global feminist literature.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Rights held
- Other rights
- Paperback
- 210mm x 135mm
- 368 pages
- 9781761381751
- AUD$32.99
- 2 February 2027
- ANZ
- Asia Literary Agency
Categories
Awards
- Longlisted for the 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature
Praise
‘An unforgiving tale of political horror and womanhood by a writer that is fearless.’
‘Night of a Thousand Hells is written from the heart; as moving and immersive as it is stylish and important — a story of women trying to survive, propelled by the equal forces of rage and love, all set against a brilliantly realised world of myths, faith and devastating politics. Spellbinding.’
About the Author
Intan Paramaditha is an Indonesian author and a Harvard Radcliffe Fellow. Her story collection Apple and Knife is part of the Vintage Classics ‘Weird Girls’ series, and her novel The Wandering was longlisted for the Stella Prize and received the English PEN Translates Award. She holds a PhD from New York University and teaches at Macquarie University, Sydney. She is co-founder of the feminist collective Sekolah Pemikiran Perempuan.
Translators
Stephen Epstein serves as both the Director of the Asian Studies Institute and a member of the Classics Programme at the Victoria University of Wellington in Wellington, New Zealand. Among his latest publications are articles on the ancient Greek novel, translations of Korean and Indonesian fiction, including Intan Paramaditha’s Apple and Knife, and an analysis of contemporary short stories in North Korea.
Tiffany Tsao is a writer and literary translator. She has translated five books from Indonesian into English. For her translation of Budi Darma’s People from Bloomington, she was awarded the 2023 PEN Translation Prize and the 2023 NSW Premier’s Translation Prize. Her translation of Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Happy Stories, Mostly was longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and awarded the 2022 Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses.
