Lajwanti and Other Stories

In Lajwanti and Other Stories, Mulk Raj Anand focuses on a woman's predicament and struggle to find an identity for herself. Frustrated by a rigid pattern of social relationships, gender bias, religious bigotry and her own petty human foibles, her abject condition serves as a metaphor for sacrifice and servility which form the thematic heart of these stories.

Book Reviews

'Mr Anand has a marvellous power of evoking an immense varied life as it bubbles in front of his eyes, without once losing contact with his characters... Anand's picture is real, comprehensive, and subtle, and the shifts in moods, from farce to comedy, from pathos to tragedy, and from realistic to the poetic, are remarkable." - V S Pritchett, British Literary Critic

'With great deftness, Anand pictures India...'Books Abroad, USA

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Author

Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) was one of the most prominent novelists and short story writers, and with Raja Rao and R K Narayan, is regarded as a founding father of English fiction in India. Son of a copper-smith and a soldier, Anand was born in Peshawar. He was educated at the Universities of Punjab, Cambridge and London.

Recipient of many coveted honours, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971, Padma Bhushan in 1967 and held the prestigious Tagore Chair at the Punjab University.

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