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.
[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".
In the introduction, Rao, writes that these first Indian females trained in Western medicine during British rule, and were commonly called lady doctors.
[a] They left home, defied rules of tradition and caste, addressed men, and faced verbal abuse, at a time when Indian women were chiefly housebound, and had limited access to education.
Having impressed Rachel Bodley, the Dean of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, Joshi was admitted with a grand reception.
Ganguly's father, Brijkishore, was a headmaster, part of the Brahmo Samaj, and with Annette Ackroyd was a co-founder of the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya, a school that promoted equality of the sexes.
Rukhmabai Raut (1864 - 1955), known as the first Hindu woman to seek a divorce, is credited with contributing, along with the later Phulmoni Dasi rape case of 1889, to paving the way for legislation that changed the minimum age of marriage for females.
Unfavourable press was particularly received in the Kesari and Maratha, from Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a nationalist in the self-rule movement and believer in restricted education for lower castes and women, who praised Joshi for being a 'good wife' but criticised Raut, particularly following the publication of her opinions in Henry Curwen's The Times of India.
Rao notes Rudyard Kipling and other colonialist supporters argued that the Hindu laws that restricted education for Raut, was evidence that Indians could not represent themselves in politics.
Later, not wishing to come into conflict with Hindu laws, Charles Sargent and Lyttleton Bayley reversed the decision and Raut was ordered to either go to her husband or receive a prison sentence.
Here, Rao notes that before the notion of passive resistance was widely known, the woman Raut opts for prison, though eventually settles by paying him off.
Rao names Haimabati Sen (1866 - 1933) "The Fighter", as she was born into a family who wished her to have been boy, was not sent to school, was widowed as a child and had neither support of a husband or liberal contacts.
[2] Lakshmi Subramanian of the Telegraph India notes that the lives of the six women in the book are inspiring, though in her opinion it "reads more or less like a mere who’s who of ‘lady doctors’ and does not go beyond the narrative inherent in the sources that it uses.
"[3] She calls 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.
"[6] A review in 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".