Long before such themes became commonplace in Indian English writing, Bani Basu’s first novel, Janmabhumi Matribhumi, broke new ground in Bengali literature by representing diasporic experience and the two-way pull of an ever-elusive homeland. Debali Mookerjea-Leonard’s brilliant translation makes this rich, complex and absorbing work accessible to a global readership whose histories it distils. The Continents Between speaks to us today with rare urgency and power. -- Supriya Chaudhuri - Supriya Chaudhuri

Bani Basu is arguably the most versatile contemporary writer in Bengali, the broad range of her fiction deals with gender, history, mythology, society, psychology, adolescence, music, sexual orientation, the supernatural, and more. Besides writing novels and short stories, she is also an essayist, critic and poet. She has won a number of literary awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award. She lives and writes in Calcutta.

Debali Mookerjea–Leonard is the Roop Distinguished Professor of English at James Madison University. She is a gold medallist in comparative literature from Jadavpur University, Calcutta and holds a PhD from the University of Chicago. Her work has been supported by the American Association of University Women, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and the National Endowment for the Humanities