Spanning a period of fifty years since India's independence, this thought-provoking selection explores a direct link between women's writing -- from India and some from Bangladesh too -- and the turbulent milieu that inspired them. The stories speak of the tragedy of violent displacement, of Partition, of riots, of wars, of deprivation, of middle class and working class lives, on both sides of the border. They speak of women as agents who reclaim the history of the time as their own. The editors present thirteen writers: Sabitri Roy, Purabi Basu, Jahanara Imam, Mahasweta Devi, Sulekha Sanyal, Bani Basu, Nasreen Jahan, Ashapurna Devi, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Anita Agnihotri, Chhabi Basu, Selina Hossein and Rajlakshmi Devi.