The Second Wife

₹ 325

Charming and cultivated, Nirmala's only sin is her failure to get a husband who would accept her without a dowry. She is married off to a widower... This novel captures the depth of suffering of the characters Nirmala comes in contact with, and yet the book does not fall into melodrama that would have happened with any lesser writer.

The realistic dramatisation of the family events is peculiarly Indian, but based on universal human experience, transcending geographical boundaries and barriers of culture.

"...a story of Indian ethos and its cultural impact." - Dr. Ganga Prasad Vimal, Hindi Literary Critic

"It is good to find that Indian writing is making a mark in other world languages. Premchand's novel translated into English by Rubin as The Second Wife is one such fine example..." - The Hindu

"This bitter melodrama has aged well... Nirmala is a fine introduction to the work of a 20th-century master of Hindi literature." - Virginia Quarterly Review, USA

Author

Premchand (1880-1936) was born in Lamhi village near Varanasi in north India as Dhanpat Rai. His realistic writings highlighted the social milieu through a multi-faceted portrayal of human nature. The 12 novels, 300 or so short stories (most of them collected in an 8-volume set called Mansarovar and in Soz-e-Watan), plays and numerous essays — all add up to make him not only one of the most prolific but also marvellously creative writers, who came to be regarded as the spokesman of the disinherited and the downtrodden. The Second Wife (titled Nirmala in Hindi) represents a high-water mark of Premchand’s genius as a creator of realistic fiction.

Book Details

ISBN:9788122204186 | Format: Paperback, eBook | Language: English | Extent: 176 pp | Translator: Prof. David Rubin, Columbia Univ., U.S.A.