Lady Doctors

Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine
AuthorKavitha Rao
LanguageEnglish
SubjectBiography
Published2021
PublisherWestland Books (2021), Jacaranda Books (2023)
Publication placeIndia (2021)
UK (2023)
Pages245
ISBN978-1-914-34499-2

Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine is a book about six of India's first Indian female physicians in Western medicine. It was written by journalist, author and lawyer Kavitha Rao, and first published in 2021 by Westland Books in India, and in the UK by Jacaranda Books in 2023. In it contains the stories of Anandibai Joshi, Kadambini Ganguly, Rukhmabai Raut, Haimabati Sen, Muthulakshmi Reddy, and Mary Poonen Lukose, all born in the late nineteenth century.

In 2021 the book was long listed for Tata's literary awards in the category of non-fiction book of the year. The Hindu noted "the stories weave a rich pattern depicting the struggles these women had to overcome to carve out their careers, and in the process, build a path for other women to follow."[1] The Tribune acknowledged Rao for "her indepth research".[2] The Telegraph India criticised it for being "a mere who’s who" and called it "a general book for an interested readership", but lacks an answer as to why these lady doctors were chiefly associated with reproductive medicine, and misses "references to the complex social context in which these women operated.".[3] The Asian Journal of Women's Studies described the book as written in a "scholarly manner", "the first of its kind", and "presents a clear picture of the discursive patterns of patriarchy".[4]

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  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Maity2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).