ABOUT THIS BOOK
What I searched all these years for myself—and I only found Ahalya, the woman I was supposed to be born as: unblemished, without any faults. I had no hala in me, no sin, no crime, no guilt. What I had done was to respond to the call of life within me…’—Ahalya.
Created by Brahma; married to one of the greatest rishis of all time; desired by the king of gods,
Indra. A woman maligned and cursed. But who was Ahalya? What did she want? Did she have
ambitions and desires?
In this sparkling retelling of the well-known legend, bestselling author Kavita Kané draws out the
voice of a character that lacked one—even before she was turned to stone.
AUTHOR OF THE BOOK
Kavita Kané is a former journalist and the bestselling author of five books. She is considered a
revolutionary force in Indian writing because she has brought in feminism where it is most needed— mythology. Her five novels are all based on women in Indian mythology: Karna’s Wife (2013); Sita’s Sister (2014), on Ramayana’s most neglected character, Urmila; Menaka’s Choice (2015), on the apsara, Menaka; Lanka’s Princess (2016), on the female antagonist in the Ramayana, Surpanakha; and The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty (2017) on Satyavati, the grand matriarch in the Mahabharata.
After a career of over two decades in Magna and DNA, Kavita quit her job as assistant editor of The Times of India to devote herself to writing novels full-time. With a postgraduate degree in English literature as well as in journalism and mass communication, the only skill she has, she confesses, is writing.
Passionate about theatre, cinema and art, she is also a columnist, a screenplay writer and a motivational speaker, having given several talks all across the country in educational and research institutes, corporate and management fora and literary festivals.
Born in Mumbai, with a childhood spent largely in Patna and Delhi, she currently lives in Pune
with her mariner husband, Prakash, their two daughters, Kimaya and Amiya, two dogs Chic and
Beau, and Cotton, the uncurious cat.
