A debut that Neil Gaiman calls “Glorious . . So sharp, so focused and so human.” THE LADY in the street describes a future that’s culturally lush and psychologically wrenching.

Monica Byrne bursts to the literary picture with an extraordinary vision into the future. In a global where global power has shifted east and revolution is brewing, two women embark on vastly different journeys-each harrowing and urgent and wholly unexpected.

When Meena finds snakebites on her chest, her worst concerns about THE LADY in the street: A Book are realized: someone is after her and she must flee India. As she plots her exit, she learns from the Path, an energy-harvesting bridge spanning the Arabian Sea that has been a refuge for itinerant vagabonds and loners on the run. This is her salvation. Slipping out in the cover of night time, using a knapsack filled with items including a pozit Gps navigation, a scroll audience, and a sealable waterproof pod, she sets off for Ethiopia, the place of her birth.

Meanwhile, Mariama, a young girl in Africa, is forced to flee her home. She joins up with a caravan of misfits heading across the Sahara. She is used by Yemaya, a lovely and enigmatic woman who turns into her protector and confidante. They are trying to reach Addis Abba, Ethiopia, a metropolis swirling with radical politics and rich tradition. But Mariama will find a city considerably unique of she ever expected-romantic, turbulent, and harmful.

As one minds east and the other west, Meena and Mariama’s fates are connected with techniques that are inexplicable and shocking to the core.

Written with stunning clarity, deep emotion, and a futuristic flair, THE LADY in the street can be an artistic feat of the initial order: vividly thought, artfully informed, and profoundly moving.