SBR: The Liberation of Sita, translated from Telugu, is a revision of Ramayana through the stories of marginal female characters of the original like Ahalya, Renuka, Shurpanakha, and Urmila. This is unlike the stories of the neglected characters written by writers like Maithili Sharan Gupt which don’t challenge the main narrative, just highlight the ignored one. This book is a subversive, feminist revision of the epic. It’s not the misery of these women that is the point here. It’s their breaking the bonds of patriarchy. The liberation here is not something bestowed on Sita by a man. Her liberation here is from the patriarchy itself.

To read or not to read: Yes, please do.