Shama A Novel

The Title "Shama A Novel" is written by A.R. Khatoon. This book was published in the year 2008. The ISBN number 9788189884379 is assigned to the Paperback version of this title. The publisher of this title is Kali For Women. Shama A Novel is currently Not Available with us.You can enquire about this book and we will let you know the availability.

This first-time translation of Shama by acclaimed historian and translator Salim Kidwai makes available to English readers one of the twentieth century's most popular Urdu novels. A self-defined 'social novel', it instantly became a bestseller and retained its popularity among several generations of Muslim women in north India. Its author, A. R. Khatoon, pioneered this genre of Fiction dominated by women characters. Her success spawned innumerable similar novels by other women.

The main story is that of protagonist Shama's struggle to retain her independence and dignity despite many unkind twists of fate. Set in the 1930s, before partition, the novel depicts a large extended Muslim family's transition from rural to urban Uttar Pradesh, and from dependence on land to the new professional life. Issues that concern the Family include women's education, purdah and appropriate social behaviour. Shama tells the story of a father, who, as a single parent, does not want wealth to be his only daughter's sole inheritance.

Unlike earlier Urdu novels meant for women but written by men, A.R. Khatoon's masterpiece avoids didacticism and stylistic pretensions, instead gripping readers' attention with sheer narrative power.

A.R. Khatoon, who died in 1965, is best known for her Urdu fiction featuring, strong women characters.