Depicting the courage of women under trying circumstances

New Delhi, Oct 4 (IANS) The late Jnanpith award-winning author Indira Goswami was a great literary writer of her generation and a feminist icon. Most of her major works have been translated from Assamese into English; however, some of her works are yet to be discovered by a larger audience. "Five Novellas About Women" (Niyogi Books) represents a cross-section of her writing, with a special focus on the courage of women under trying circumstances.

Sensitively translated, with detailed notes on the translation, these stories bring to light the human condition that Goswami portrayed in her writing. The lives of the rural poor, the...