O. Chandumenon

“a pioneering work!
Deccan Herald

Translated from Malayalam by Anitha Devasia

“The translation … carefully balances textual and contextual interpretation, and is radiant with clarity and nuance.
-The Book Review

‘Anitha Devasia’s translation is alive to the nuances … without eroding the narrative smoothness. … Susie Tharu, in the succinct foreword put[s] the reader “on the scent of the momentous issues that are at stake”.’
The Hindu

Widely held to be the first Malayalam novel, Indulekha (1889) stands out as a landmark in publishing for having been reprinted almost every year for over a hundred years. An endearing love story woven around a feudal Nair taravad, the novel is replete with the particular and detailed textures of its times the impact of English education, the effects of British subjugation, and the Nair matrilineal society.
With a perceptive foreword by Susie Tharu and useful appendices, the novel will appeal to general readers as well as provide rich mining for students of sociology, political and legal studies, gender enquiry, and other branches of trans-disciplinary research.