Parineeta

Lalita has grown up practically as a daughter in her wealthy neighbor's house, and everyone assumes she will marry their son Shekhar one day, until a foolish debt her father cannot repay, and an even more foolish silence from Shekhar himself, pushes her toward marriage with an older, kinder man she does not love. Only when it may be too late does Shekhar understand what he has lost through his own pride and hesitation. Saratchandra's slim, exquisitely observed novel of love undone by money and misunderstanding remains one of the most tender and quietly heartbreaking stories in Bengali fiction.