In this book, a hundred women who live in Calcutta's slums talk directly about their sexual and birth control experiences. As the facts and stories accumulate, we get a picture of these women's lives that is frighteningly bare of choice.
The author asks how women's income-earning capacities as well as those of their men, their status in their families and their relations with other kin affect their social and sexual autonomy. Seal goes on to consider whether their interests conform to the ideals of feminist liberation. How far has the movement been able to address their concerns?

Arna Seal is a consultant in marketing and social research. She received her masters and doctoral degrees in sociology from Tulane University, New Orleans.