The untold story of the women who helped win Guinea-Bissau's independence. Joana Gomes was just thirteen when her father was murdered and she was drawn into the country's brutal war against Portuguese colonial rule. She became part of a growing movement of women who served as fighters, organisers, nurses and political leaders, and whose work was vital to victory.

Journalist Ricci Shryock draws on nearly two decades of reporting and first-hand testimony from the region. She tells their stories with vivid detail and emotional clarity, showing the courage, complexity and sacrifice behind the struggle. She also shows how the war transformed not only a nation but the place of women within it. A powerful, deeply human account, it puts women at the centre of one of Africa's most significant liberation movements, led by the PAIGC and Amílcar Cabral.