“Incantations and Other Stories” by Anjana Appachana, an American writer of Indian heritage, is a collection of stories set in India. The stories follow everyday characters, women for the most part, who struggle with their daily lives in a country where there are a lot of problematic standards and views, especially when it comes to women.
The characters range from a student who wants to get an abortion to a girl confined to a hopeless arranged marriage. While there is a clear feminist message that these stories are trying to relate, it is not relentlessly brought upon the reader as the main focus, but a deduction that they can make while reading about the struggles that these characters face.
The collection explores themes of womanhood, societal structures and expectations of women, and the theme of everyday life. It was first published in 1991.
