Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur’s Journey Through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse

From the bestselling author of The Concubine’s Children and The Girl in the Picture, a gripping story of a domestic assault that shocked the world, of the exercise of power and political influence, and of the Bangladeshi woman whose irrepressible spirit found light in sudden darkness.

From the outside, Rumana seemed an unlikely victim of domestic abuse: married to a man of her own choosing and progressing in her career as a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. But in 2011, on return from graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, her husband attacked and blinded her in front of their young daughter. As Rumana’s horrifying story garnered international headlines, and connections brought her to Vancouver in an attempt--ultimately futile--to restore her sight, her plight underscored the fact that there are no typical victims of intimate-partner violence.
Denise Chong goes behind the headlines to reveal the devolution of a love story into a tale of tyranny behind closed doors, and the pursuit of justice that proved all the more elusive during the rise of social media. Out of Darkness tells a globe-spanning narrative of loyalty, perseverance and a woman’s determination to face the future and rebuild a life with meaning.

DENISE CHONG is an award-winning author whose work portrays the lives of ordinary people caught in the eye of history. Best known for her family memoir, The Concubine’s Children; The Girl in the Picture about the napalm girl of the Vietnam War; and Egg on Mao, a story of love and defiance in China of 1989, she lives in Ottawa.

RUMANA MONZUR was born in Dhaka, lost her sight in 2011, and graduated from law school in 2017. She practices law and champions the rights of women and of persons with disabilities in Vancouver.