The story of the book focuses on the experiences and perception of the central character, Mira Kannadical. After four years as a student in England, Mira returns to India to teach and write. But the India that Mira finds, teems with confusion and unrest. At the heart of this novel, is the gang rape of  Rameeza Be by the police. The townspeople rise up and burn the police station. Turning from poetry, Mira looks to people around her to help define herself: Durgabai, practical and devoted to her patients; Swami Chari, preaching that this world’s sufferings are only an illusion; and her rebellious lover Ramu, urging her towards dangerous political action.

This novel has a powerful resonance with recent tragic events. When it was first published in 1991, it was a Voice Literary Supplement Editor’s Choice.

Haunting and lyrical, Nampally Road vividly portrays contemporary India and one woman’s struggle to piece together her past.This student edition is published for undergraduate courses and carries essay-type questions at the end of the book.

Meena Alexander was born in Allahabad. She was a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award in literature from the South Asian Literary Association and a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Most of the year she lives in New York where she is Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.