Outside Women

Would you risk your own life to pursue justice for a stranger? Two migrant women—separated by geographies and generations—face this same devastating choice.

Lured away from her home in 1890s India, Sita is brought to South Africa as an indentured servant—one among millions funneled by the British to replace the recently abolished slave trade. One hundred years later, Hajra, a Pakistani scholar, is forced to flee her home in Peshawar after witnessing a violent act meant to target her. In New York City, she loses herself in academic research until she comes face-to-face with a photo of a laughing, defiant young woman brandishing a banner in protest. Inexorably drawn to this woman, Hajra travels to South Africa to learn more and unknowingly traces Sita's path.

With raw imagery and rich sensory detail, Roohi Choudhry's incandescent debut novel Outside Women intertwines the narratives of two women painfully yet valiantly carving their existences outside of patriarchal and colonial spaces as they search for kinship and strength in solidarity.

Praise for Outside Women

MOST ANTICIPATED FEMINIST BOOKS OF 2025 - MS. MAGAZINE

GREAT GROUP READS 2025 - WOMEN'S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION

"...a riveting dual narrative of two South Asian women faced with similar moral dilemmas a century apart... the novel keenly portrays the power of female solidarity. The result is an incisive story of how change happens."

— Publishers' Weekly

“Richly detailed and immersive, the novel explores themes of migration, gender inequality, cultural identity, and resilience. It invites timely discussions on women’s safety, power, and agency, as well as the echoes of history in today’s struggles."

— Great Group Reads 2025, Women's National Book Association

"...a gripping historical novel that contrasts the abuses of patriarchy and misogyny with the power of women to stand for freedom, truth, and justice. Notable for its emotional depth, lively pace, and smooth transitions as it moves across time and continents, this complex, nuanced story.. celebrates the strength of women and the warmth of human friendship and loyalty."

— Foreword Reviews (Starred)

"Choudhry gives voice to the stories of 'outside women' who have long been silenced, offering a powerful reminder of their unbreakable spirit and the transformative power of stepping outside the walls that try to hold them in. Choudhry invites us to reflect on the legacies we inherit and the lives we, as South Asian women, seek to build in a world that often wishes to confine us."

— Brown Girl Bookshelf

"When Hajra is drawn to an image of a laughing Sita, a woman who lived a hundred years before her, it takes her breath away... I, too, lost my breath in that moment while reading Outside Women, Roohi Choudhry’s exquisite debut novel...Roohi’s work helped me to understand something of my own story. And I suspect it will do so for many of its readers, no matter their backgrounds."

— Bloom

"In the alternating perspectives in Roohi Choudhry’s elastic Outside Women, the two titular protagonists’ worlds bookend a whole century. The reader recalibrates the rhythm of time in each character’s timeline, from the rush of fleeing to the restlessness of waiting to flee... the dynamic tension might snap at any moment."

— Language Arts

"Bold yet tender... Outside Women is about resilience, solidarity and the importance of bearing witness. It is also about finding joy and hope in asserting one’s agency and desires."

— Electric Literature

"With themes of feminism, colonialism, migration and autonomy, Outside Women is fierce and fresh."

— Ms. Magazine

"Choudhry’s lyrical storytelling immerses readers in the characters’ struggles in (post)colonial, transnational spaces, and her multifaceted narrative renders with suspense their efforts to redefine their womanhood outside of existing institutions."

— World Literature Today

“In her lyrical and luminous debut novel, Outside Women, Roohi Choudhry conjures a visceral yet dreamlike atmosphere. From South Africa to New York to Pakistan, this novel pulsates with the strength of its women, a narrative caught between centuries and oceans, obsessions, and an undying pursuit of justice.”

—Kali Fajardo-Anstine, bestselling author of Woman of Light and Sabrina & Corina

“Combining the reach of a historical saga with the propulsion of a mystery, Roohi Choudhry’s tightly woven debut illustrates the power of sisterhood, legacy, and solidarity through the unforgettable stories of two defiant women living a century apart.”

—Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers and Memory Piece

Roohi Choudhry has written such a powerful debut novel that I found myself holding my breath through the tenderness and tension of these pages. For those of us from what the West deems "the third world," masterpieces like this one are so precious. But the complexity, nuance, depth, texture, and artistry puts it in a league of its own. Choudhry is not afraid to get into every layer of these migrant female identities, but she does it with such sensitivity and diligence one forgets this book isn't real. No matter the continent or even the century, Outside Women's many universes defy expectation and establish Choudhry as one of our greatest new voices.

—Porochista Khakpour, author of Tehrangeles and Brown Album: Essays on Exile and Identity

“Outside Women is a powerful and beautifully braided novel of personal and political history. Choudhry traverses continents and centuries with conviction and subtlety in this striking debut.”

—Peter Ho Davies, author of The Fortunes and The Welsh Girl

“Outside Women takes you back and forth through time, examining the true cost, weight, and meaning of bearing witness. It is also beautifully written. This is one you’ll be thinking about for a long while.”—

—Rion Amilcar Scott, author of The World Doesn't Require You: Stories and Insurrections: Stories

"There is much to applaud in this novel, with its attention to detail and its exploration of little-known aspects of women’s history."

— Historical Novel Society

Press & Interviews

Bloom (interview)
Brown Girl Bookshelf (review)
Debutiful (interview)
Language Arts (reading list)
World Literature Today (interview)
Electric Literature (interview)
Literary Prospects (podcast interview)
Picture Books are for Grown-Ups, Too! (podcast interview)
Foreword Reviews (interview & review)
Ms. Magazine (Most Anticipated list)
The Johannesburg Review of Books (excerpt)
Publishers' Weekly (review)
The Millions (interview)