This volume includes three novellas by Rabindranath Tagore, who remains the greatest influence on Bengali language and literature today. The first novel, Nashtanir ('Broken Home'), was published in 1903; after a gap of three decades, Dui Bon ('Two Sisters') and Malancha ('The Garden and the Gardener') were published in 1933 and 1934 respectively.
In these three works, Tagore depicts the plight of Charulata, Urmimala, and Sarala by placing them in a new world where they are perceived as rational and desiring subjects constrained by domestic norms. Forbidden relationships mark the central narrative of Nashtanir, Dui Bon, and Malancha. While Nashtanir portrays love between an elder sister-in-law and a younger brother-in-law, Dui Bon deals with the relationship between an elder brother-in-law (sister's husband) and sister-in-law (wife's sister). In Malancha, we have an affair between a married man and a distant cousin who comes to look after his wife and the garden that he and his wife had tended. In all three works, however, ultimately the bond of marriage wins and remains, at least technically, unbroken. But an incessant desire to express their voice outside the four walls, a sense of mental void due to marital obligation, and an illegitimate longing for an extra-marital love bind our protagonists (Charulata, Urmimala, and
Sarala) in a common thread and form a unique sisterhood. There is also the understated theme of the emergence of the 'new woman'-a woman with personality and thoughts of her own.
Translated by Sukhendu Ray, this collection also includes an insightful Introduction by eminent historian and cultural critic, Bharati Ray.

About the Author:
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), acclaimed poet, playwright, short story writer, and novelist, wrote successfully in almost all literary genres including musical drama, dance drama, essay, travel diary, and autobiography. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. His composition, Jana Gana Mana, is recognized as the National Anthem of India.

Sukhendu Ray (Tr.) is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts, England and Wales. He retired as Managing Director of Keen Williams Ltd. and is currently on the boards of several companies.

Bharati Ray is currently vice president, Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, she was Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Calcutta University and Founder-Director, Women's Studies Research Centre, Calcutta University.