Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of the same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite these differences, since the day on which the two girls were born--the same day their fathers died, mysteriously and violently--Sudha and Anju have been sisters of the heart. Bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend, the two girls grow into womanhood as if their fates, as well as their hearts, are merged. In this issue of Bold Type, Chitra Divakaruni shares an essay about the love that binds women, in literature and in the real world. You can hear her read a passage from Sister of My Heart, and read excerpts of her poetry and prose from previous issues of Bold Type.
		Send us comments