Umrao Jan Ada: The Courtesan of Lucknow

Umrao Jan Ada: The Courtesan of Lucknow
MIRZA MUHAMMAD HADI RUSWA
ISBN: 9788122203936
5.0 x 7.75, Pb., 232 pp. $13.95

Umrao Jan Ada is perhaps one of the most enigmatic and forgotten female figures in South Asian literature. The question of her existence, her beauty, her scholarly abilities and her poetic gift remains a mystery even today. The story is an account of Umrao’s life as a Lucknawi courtesan, a nautch-girl, delivered in the first person by Umrao herself and documented by a close friend. More than evoking the ambience, decadence and grace of Lucknow more than 100 years ago, the story is a complex characterization of Umrao and the life she lived as a courtesan.