Debi, Ashapurna

Ashapurna Debi (1909-95) was born into a conservative Calcutta family. She was married early and plunged into the domestic life that she soon began to depict masterfully in her work; her writing career extended more than seventy years.

Ashapurna's writings express perfectly the grace and dignity of women and men of the middle class. Her work remains unparalleled in its realism, its acuity, its depth of perception and compassion; and her output was prodigious, with dozens of novels, short-story collections, and children's books. Her most popular novels were the trilogy of "Pratham Pratishr...