Books that inspire women who inspire us

Eunice De Souza
Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory looks at Christianity, as many of his
books do. A priest who is not the finest example of his profession and has an illegitimate child with a mistress is regarded as genuinely saintly, but struggles with his weaknesses and tries to stay faithful to priesthood. He serves parishioners and goes to hear the confession of a dying man though he knows it is a trap that will get him killed. I had read Graham Greene's book when I was a student in college and it made me think and question Christianity and its stereotypes. It leads you to question and think about who's really a good person and who's really a sinner.

Sonia Faleiro
I like to return, whenever I can, to Anita Desai’s The Village by the Sea. As a student, I was charmed by its linear narrative. Siblings Lila and Hari live in the fishing village of Thul, outside Mumbai. After their mother falls ill and their alcoholic father proves unreliable, the children take charge. Hari travels to Mumbai, where he works in a poky little restaurant. Lila stays home to look after her family and performs odd jobs for a rich family on vacation in Thul. It captures the resilience of children facing great adversity and the power of love. It also offers an insight into the lives of millions of Indian children abandoned by their parents and neglected by the state themes that resonate as much today as they did three decades ago. But these are things that struck me later.

Meghna Pant
Alice Munro’s latest collection of short stories: Dear Life, shone light on those dark spaces in my life that I try hard to ignore. Something inside me shifted. I knew that I could never be whole again.But I’d also never felt more complete. Her tales of loss and love, bone-dry wit, derailment and hope, plunged sharply into the recesses of my soul, drawing out things I had long hidden stolen moments, fragments of secrets, magic and madness with the virtue of an earnest schoolgirl and the deftness of a gifted surgeon. She seems to have forgone the perils of writing to impress others and had written entirely to please herself. While, as a writer, this roused envy, as a reader, I was thoroughly enchanted.

Judy Balan
Apart from being an award-winning journalist, columnist and food writer, Ariel Leve is also delightfully neurotic. I lapped up her book, It Could be Worse, You Could be Me also called The Cassandra Chronicles a compilation of her column for The Sunday Times, in a day. A hypochondriac and habitual worrier, she manages to find humour in her existential pain (which is constant) and her gamut of obsessive disorders. Her writing kept me going during a difficult patch before I wrote two books, both comedies. I appreciate her ability to see the humour in negative situations. It’s what I do now. She’s not ‘haha’ funny, but she’ll make you grin, nod in agreement and wonder how you didn’t see it that way before. Insightful, honest and yes, funny.

Suneeta Rao
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is a must read for anyone, especially the creative bunch, most of whom come to a dead-end at some point or the other. The book cites real life examples to overcome these blocks. Morning Pages, a chapter in the book, prescribes three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing first thing in the morning for clarity of thought. Wake up and start writing without thinking. What you write does not have to make sense. When I have a number of things to do in a day, putting down three pages of thoughts, helps me start my day with a clear head. It is also inspiring for those who think it is too late to achieve something by sheer determination you can succeed.

Book images courtesy Random House and Landmark