Isrnat Chughtai (1911-1991) was Urdu's rnost courageous and controversial woman writer in the twentieth century. She had a special place among her illustrious contemporaries in the field of Urdu fiction-Rajinder Singh Bedi,Saadat Hasan Manto and Krishan Chander-inspite of whom she brought into its ambit areas of experience not explored before. Her writings have transformed the complexion of Urdu fiction in significant ways by bringing about an attitudinal change in assessing the merits of literary works. Moreover, the freshness of her language-pert, racy, colloquial and idiomatic with a liberal sprinkling of words specifically used by women-makes her an immensely readable author.

It is a pity that such a powerful writer has remained largely unknown beyond the confines of Urdu-Hindi readership. Although she was a spirited member of the Progressive Writers Movement in India, she also spoke vehemently against its orthodoxy and inflexibility. She does explore the forbidden terrains of female sexuality which is her special forte, but she also explores other dimensions of social and existential reality. In trying to strike a balance between different facets of her literary preoccupations and assessing them in their proper contexts and perspectives, this monograph offers a much needed corrective to a monotonic and reductive understanding/ representation of the writer.