Bianca, or, The Young Spanish Maiden (1878) is a novel by Toru Dutt. Published the year after her death at the age of 21, Bianca, or, The Young Spanish Maiden is a heartfelt work of romance by a pioneering figure in Indian history and Bengali literature.
“A funeral procession was winding slowly up the path; two mourners followed the coffin; the church yard was in a lonely place; so there were no half-curious, half-sympathising people following. It was the daughter of Alonzo Garcia a foreign gentleman residing in England, his eldest daughter and his most loved; the youngest was by his side, Bianca.”
Inspired by her time in England, Toru Dutt tells the story of a young girl mourning the loss of her beloved sister Inez. Tragic and timeless, Bianca, or, The Young Spanish Maiden investigates themes of faith, family, and courtship while illuminating the experience of a young foreigner living in England. Born in Calcutta to a family of Bengali Christians, Toru Dutt was raised at the crossroads of English and Indian cultures. In addition to her native Bengali, she became fluent in English, French, and Sanskrit as a young girl, eventually writing novels and poems in each language. Despite her limited body of work, Dutt’s legacy as a groundbreaking writer remains firm in India and around the world.
This edition of Toru Dutt’s Bianca, or, The Young Spanish Maiden is a classic work of Bengali literature reimagined for modern readers.
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With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.
Toru Dutt (1856-1877) was a Bengali poet and translator. Born in Calcutta to a prominent family of Bengali Christians, Dutt was educated from a young age and became a devoted student of English literature. Taught by her father and a private tutor, she learned French, Sanskrit, and English in addition to her native Bengali. At thirteen, she left India with her family to travel through Europe, visiting France, England, Italy, and Germany over the next several years. In 1872, she attended a series of lectures for women at the University of Cambridge alongside her sister Aru, which further sparked her interest in academia and literature. In 1873, the family returned to Calcutta, where Dutt struggled to readjust to Indian culture. She wrote two novels in English and French before publishing A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields (1876), a collection of French poems translated into English. Its critical and commercial success came tragically late, however, as Dutt died of consumption in 1877 at the age of 21. She has since been recognized as the first Indian writer to publish a novel in French, the first Indian woman to publish an English novel, and a pioneering figure in Anglo-Indian literature whose mastery of several languages at such a young age remains remarkably uncommon. Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882), a collection of Sanskrit poems translated into English, was her final, posthumously published work.
