Inspired by the great strike led by Icelandic women in 1975, Laetitia Colombani returns to literature with A Day Without Women, presenting the magnificent idea of a global women’s strike, affirming her feminist convictions and belief in the power and solidarity of women to drive change.

It only takes one day for the world to tip to the right side.

In Reykjavik, Katla, a young sociologist, collapses after the femicide of her friend Soffia. When she discovers that her grandmother took part in the great Icelandic women’s strike, she decides to turn her grief into a fight: to launch a global strike against violence and inequality.

This breath of revolt soon crosses borders.

In Tokyo, Michiko, pregnant, suffers humiliation and workplace harassment for having “disrupted” the established order. Broken, she seeks refuge with her parents; her reclusive brother posts her story online, awakening the anger of Japanese women.

In El Salvador, Ana Maria, an exhausted factory worker, endures poverty, social violence, and the unjust imprisonment of her daughter. When her factory cancels the bonus that was supposed to pay for a gift for her child, she rises up, setting off a chain of unexpected solidarities.

In France, Aya, an overworked Senegalese doctor, returns home to recover, where she saves a young girl who is a victim of female genital mutilation and finally confronts her own trauma.

Each of them, without knowing one another, is determined to say no.

As March 8 approaches, the movement seems unstoppable.
Could one day of strike make history tip and open a future of justice and solidarity for women around the world?

In their lives, as in ours, one day can change everything.

A Day Without Women celebrates women’s courage and solidarity across four continents, showing different lives bound by the same determination to claim their rights. For one day, men are left to manage alone, and women make a powerful statement about equality and resilience.