What does it look like when 27 south Asian immigrant women writers turn their gaze inward, reach deep inside themselves for their hidden truths, and produce the stories of their lives and those of their families? It looks a lot like what you might expect, and some you might not. Mixed in with unconditional love, gentleness and unbreakable familial bonds, there’s pain, loss, abuse, anger and rebellion, laughter, triumph and forgiveness. There are Vitamixes and matrimonial fairs, Twilight fandom and, of course, the ubiquitous desi aunties.

Good Girls Marry Doctors contains powerful accounts by the children of immigrants, who struggle to balance their Westernised lives with often-archaic south Asian family values that their parents demand of them. It isn’t easy reading, but it is essential for Indian women and men, irrespective of your geographic location and immigration status.

Edited by writer Piyali Bhattacharya, it features some of south Asia’s brightest established and upcoming voices, including novelist Nayomi Munaweera, poet Tarfia Faizullah, public health advocate Sayantani Dasgupta, editor Neelanjana Banerjee, activist Tanzila Ahmed and Love Inshallah editor Ayesha Mattu. As Bhattacharya says, “It was taking a survey of an entire community of women whose opinions have never been sought out before… a diverse array of women all speaking their truths at the same time.” Read more