" Elizabeth Bumiller   May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons (Fawcett Books/Penguin India). Lucid exploration of the Indian woman's lot, drawn from dozens of first-hand encounters by an American journalist.

 

Sashi Deshpande   The Binding Vine (Virago). Disturbing story of one woman's struggle for independence, and her eventual acceptance of the position of servitude traditionally assumed by an Indian wife.

Anees Jung   The Night of the New Moon (Penguin). Revealing and poetic stories woven around interviews with Muslim women from all sectors of Indian society. Jung's Unveiling India is a compelling account of the life of a Muslim woman who has chosen to break free from orthodoxy.

Sarah Lloyd   An Indian Attachment (Eland Books). Life in a Punjabi plains village through the eyes of a young Western woman, whose relationship with an opium-addicted Sikh forms the essence of this honest and enlightening book.

" Vrinda Nabar   Caste as Woman (Penguin India). Conceived as an Indian counterpart to Greer's The Female Eunuch , a wry study of the pressures brought to bear during the various stages of womanhood. Drawing on scripture and popular culture, Nabar looks at issues of identity and cultural conditioning.

Sakuntala Narasiman   Sati: A Study of Widow Burning in India (Harper Collins). Definitive and engaging exploration of sati and its significance throughout history, including an account of the infamous Roop Kanwar case.

Sebasti L. Raj (ed) Quest for Gender Justice (TR Publications, Chennai). Collection of articles on the status of women in modern India by academics, activists and a couple of High Court judges.

Mala Sen   India's Bandit Queen (HarperCollins). Journalistic account of the life of Phoolan Devi, the legendary bandit leader and subject of Shekar Kapur's film Bandit Queen .

Virama, Josiane Racine & Jean-Luc Racine   Virama: Life of an Untouchable (Verso). Unique autobiography of an untouchable woman told in her own words (transcribed by French anthropologists) over a fifteen-year period, offering frank, often humorous insights into India, the universe and everything.