Tlotlo Tsamaase — Womb City (2024)

Womb City (2024)

Nelah seems to have everything: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing up in a government laboratory. But when her daughter is taken from her, Nelah must uncover the political conspiracy that the victim is about to reveal—or risk losing everything.

In a cruel future Botswana where women’s bodies are a state-controlled resource, Nelah finds herself trapped in a surveillance system that allows her to borrow other people’s bodies to survive. But this power comes at a cost: with each transfer, she loses a little more of who she is. Womb City is a breathless story about bodily autonomy, motherhood, and rebellion against a patriarchy that instrumentalizes women.

The novel was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, the Ignyte Award for Best Novel, and the Nommo Award. It received praise from The New York Times Book Review, which describes Tlotlo Tsamaase as a “new visionary.”

Sources and references

1. Womb City — Open Library
2. Womb City — Wikipedia
3. Erewhon Books / Kensington