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The Women's Courtyard: With a New Introduction by Kamila Shamsie
Aliya lives a life confined to the inner courtyard of her home with her older sister and irritable mother, while the men of the family throw themselves into the political movements of the day. She is tormented by the petty squabbles of the household and dreams of educating herself and venturing into the wider world. But Aliya must endure many trials before she achieves her goals, though at what personal cost?
Set in the 1940s, with Partition looming on the horizon, The Women's Courtyard cleverly brings into focus the claustrophobic lives of women whose entire existence was circumscribed by the four walls of their homes, and for whom the outside world remained an inaccessible dream. Daisy Rockwell's elegant and nuanced translation captures the poignance and power of Khadija Mastur's inimitable voice.
Set in the 1940s, with Partition looming on the horizon, The Women's Courtyard cleverly brings into focus the claustrophobic lives of women whose entire existence was circumscribed by the four walls of their homes, and for whom the outside world remained an inaccessible dream. Daisy Rockwell's elegant and nuanced translation captures the poignance and power of Khadija Mastur's inimitable voice.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2025
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January 11, 2026
I picked up The Women’s Courtyard in its English translation by Daisy Rockwell at the Urdu Festival in Delhi, and it turned out to be a surprisingly quick yet deeply absorbing read. While there were moments when the translation felt a little too pared down, where I sensed that the emotional and linguistic depth might resonate more powerfully in the original Urdu/Hindi, I still found myself fully immersed in the world Mastur creates. I hope to read the Urdu version one day!
What stayed with me most was the afterword by Daisy Rockwell, which beautifully articulated much of what I felt while reading but hadn’t quite put into words. The novel moves fluidly across themes of patriarchy, feminism, love, Partition, and Hindu–Muslim relations, without ever feeling heavy-handed. Mastur approaches these vast, complex ideas through the texture of everyday life, through conversations, silences, domestic spaces, and relationships, making the political deeply personal.
This is feminism rendered with remarkable subtlety. Mastur does not lecture or moralize, which I absolutely loved. Instead, she allows her characters to live, struggle, contradict themselves, and grow. In doing so, she captures the complexity of human relationships and women’s inner lives with great sensitivity. The novel trusts its reader and it shows rather than tells and that restraint is precisely what gives it such power.
Though as Daisy Rockwell mentions in her afterword, that this book is often situated within the broader canon of Partition literature, The Women’s Courtyard feels distinct from many Partition narratives I’ve read so far. Rather than foregrounding trauma in overt or dramatic ways, Mastur has weaved the historical context into the background of intimate, domestic worlds, allowing readers to feel its weight indirectly but profoundly. It offers a different understanding of some people's lives during the partition.
I don’t think I can fully do justice to this book in a short review, but I’ll say this that it’s a quiet, powerful masterpiece by a feminist writer who understood how to write about complex ideas through simplicity and nuance. And if nothing else, read the afterword, it really does complete the experience in the most thoughtful way.
What stayed with me most was the afterword by Daisy Rockwell, which beautifully articulated much of what I felt while reading but hadn’t quite put into words. The novel moves fluidly across themes of patriarchy, feminism, love, Partition, and Hindu–Muslim relations, without ever feeling heavy-handed. Mastur approaches these vast, complex ideas through the texture of everyday life, through conversations, silences, domestic spaces, and relationships, making the political deeply personal.
This is feminism rendered with remarkable subtlety. Mastur does not lecture or moralize, which I absolutely loved. Instead, she allows her characters to live, struggle, contradict themselves, and grow. In doing so, she captures the complexity of human relationships and women’s inner lives with great sensitivity. The novel trusts its reader and it shows rather than tells and that restraint is precisely what gives it such power.
Though as Daisy Rockwell mentions in her afterword, that this book is often situated within the broader canon of Partition literature, The Women’s Courtyard feels distinct from many Partition narratives I’ve read so far. Rather than foregrounding trauma in overt or dramatic ways, Mastur has weaved the historical context into the background of intimate, domestic worlds, allowing readers to feel its weight indirectly but profoundly. It offers a different understanding of some people's lives during the partition.
I don’t think I can fully do justice to this book in a short review, but I’ll say this that it’s a quiet, powerful masterpiece by a feminist writer who understood how to write about complex ideas through simplicity and nuance. And if nothing else, read the afterword, it really does complete the experience in the most thoughtful way.
Displaying 1 of 1 review