Femme Fatale

Men drive the events of Shaheen Akhtar’s novel, but the women who orbit them are its true heroes

Ishani Nandi

Who could resist a saga that begins with a drunken zamindar king, a fearsome and loyal henchman, and the severed head of a beautiful courtesan? With a startling opening scene, full of high drama, Beloved Rongomala (originally Shokhi Rongomala), a written by awardwinning Bangladeshi author Shaheen Akhtar and translated by writer Shabnam Nadiya, draws readers into a gripping and heart-rending tale that explores the gender, class and caste struggles of 18th-century Bengal. Set in the years of the British East India Company’s burgeoning influence, the historical novel revolves around the household of Raj Chandra Chowdhury, a self-absorbed feudal lord of minor import, who spends his days in the pursuit of gratification and pleasure. Wrapped as he is in a bubble of entitlement and self-supremacy, the zamindar cares, or sees, little…

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India Today (Digital) - 1 Issue, 9 January 2023

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