These writings, translated for the first time from Bengali, form a path-breaking collection of issues that aimed at the empowerment of women and thus remain alive today. The women were the first to receive a ‘modern’ education, and became members of the reading and writing public that hitherto was entirely male. The writers came from urban elite backgrounds, most from Brahmo Samaj families, many comparatively unknown today like Bamasundari Devi or Kumudini Mitra as well as more famous ones from the Tagore family—Swarnakumari Devi and her daughters. Some were Hindus like Kailashbasini Devi and Krishnabhabini Das, among others. There are also two Muslim women writers—the brilliant Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and the social reformer Khairunnissa Khatun.