going on slowly. Emancipation is not all gain, Mrs. Ghosal thinks; women behind the purdah lived such peaceful sheltered lives, nothing came near enough to hurt them except the sickness or death of their dear ones; anxieties passed them by, there was time for everything, no hurry, no striving to be "economically independent," and Mrs. Ghosal, with all her progressive ideas, still preserves the dignified tranquillity of the purdah nashin lady; brilliant as she is in the eyes of her countrymen, flattered as she has been, she never asserts herself nor gives an opinion unasked; and indeed the semi-purdah in which she lives has the great advantage that it affords her abundant opportunity for her literary work and study. Mrs. Ghosal has read and thought deeply; although she has never been to England she is greatly interested in everything English, and reads many English books; her favourite author is George Eliot, for whom she has a deep veneration.
This is the first time that a book of hers has been brought before the English public, and it should be of deep interest to all those who are concerned with the Woman question, for it presents a careful study of the Indian girl at this intensely interesting stage in the history of her development, and particularly of her attitude towards love and marriage; all that is best in the old traditions of her race still holds her fast, but she is reaching out eager hands for the freedom that will some day be hers.
