10 Indian Feminist Books You Need to Read Right Away

10 Indian Feminist Books You Need to Read Right Away

These are best 10 Indian feminist books you need to read right away.

The Quilt and Other Stories

The Quilt and Other Stories

Chughtai’s stories created an uproar in the conservative Indian society because of unorthodox themes of homosexuality and female sexuality.

Sunlight on a Broken Column

Sunlight on a Broken Column

This feminist narrative unfolds in a Muslim household, where our protagonist Laila is raised by her orthodox aunt.

The Palace of Illusions

The Palace of Illusions

This retelling of the Indian epic Mahabharata uses a powerful female voice to recount age old events that have always been portrayed in the light of patriarchy.

Breast Stories

Breast Stories

These are powerful, impactful, no-nonsense stories revolving around the female body. ‘Draupadi’ follows a tribal woman, Dopdi who is captured by the special forces.

Nectar in a Sieve

Nectar in a Sieve

Rukmini, the protagonist of this bold and beautiful novel, is a child bride at the age of twelve. But as she matures into a woman, she never moulds into a demure, despondent wife.

That Long Silence

That Long Silence

In this story of the unravelling of a marriage, Jaya realizes after seventeen years that she has no individual identity.

Gently Falls the Bakula

Gently Falls the Bakula

This exploration of marriage, love and selfhood centres on Shrimati and Shrikant, neighbours in Hubli.

Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore

Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore’s classic portrays as its central character an unorthodox widow who sets out to get illicitly what society wont give her licitly.

Nirmala by Munshi Premchand

Nirmala by Munshi Premchand

This novel by one of India’s greatest novelists who believed in ‘the socially purposeful novel’ tackles two of India’s greatest social evils – dowry and child marriage.

The Glassblower’s Breath

The Glassblower’s Breath

In this intensely non-conformist book, Gupta’s narrator recounts a whole day reminiscing about the men she has fantasized about.