Young and vulnerable, Nirmala is married off to an elderly widower by her mother who cannot afford to pay a dowry for her. A forbidden relationship between the young bride and one of her three stepsons seems inevitable. But her jealous husband perceives the possibility of such a relationship long before Nirmala and her stepson do, and the two are tragically separated. As the young man dies in a renunciatory illness, Nirmala is agonized by her culpability in his death and further crises in the family. First published in 1928, this poignant novel by Premchand is a classic text of the woman as victim. Exploring sensitive, even dangerous terrain, it communicates a sense of tragedy rather than moral disapproval.