{"product_id":"radical-spirits-indias-first-woman-doctor-and-her-american-champions-9781734063110","title":"Radical Spirits: India's First Woman Doctor and Her American Champions","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In the company of a brave and determined young woman, Radical Spirits takes us to the fraught social and religious frontier between two cultures, India and America in the late 1800s. The journey makes for a captivating story, every page granting insights into the age-old struggle to surmount entrenched borders and barriers.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- \u003cb\u003eRobert Kanigel\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Man Who Knew Infinity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEyes on the Street\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 1883, an \u003cb\u003eeighteen-year-old\u003c\/b\u003e Indian woman named Anandi Joshee sailed alone from Calcutta to New York with the goal of \u003cb\u003ebecoming a doctor\u003c\/b\u003e. At the time there were \u003cb\u003eno schools for girls\u003c\/b\u003e in India. Also, the few doctors (who were all male) were not permitted to treat female patients. Having witnessed the suffering of women, Anandi hoped to help create a culture that saw \u003cb\u003ewomen as deserving and capable\u003c\/b\u003e of equality with men.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnandi faced critics in India and skeptics in America. Her \u003cb\u003ementor was her husband Gopal\u003c\/b\u003e, who tutored her at home and fostered her ambition. Her unexpected champion was \u003cb\u003eTheodocia Carpenter, a New Jersey housewife\u003c\/b\u003e who initiated a three year correspondence, offering \"all possible help.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith her determination and grace, Anandi \u003cb\u003ewon the support of all\u003c\/b\u003e -- Indians, Americans, as well as British -- who crossed her path. Three thousand supporters attended her 1886 graduation from the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing original letters, university archives, and newspaper accounts, \"Radical Spirits\" draws a textured portrait of British India and post-Civil War America. Exploring the relationships that Indian, British and American individuals forged by \u003cb\u003ebridging cultural, political, and class boundaries\u003c\/b\u003e is sure to be a rich and rewarding experience.\u003c\/p\u003e ADVANCE PRAISE \u003cp\u003e\"A sensitive look at the inner world of India's first woman doctor, the pain and suffering she endured, and the determination that drove her remarkable and inspiring journey.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eShrabani Basu\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eVictoria and Abdul\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Deeply researched and accessibly written, this intimate portrait is also a social and cultural history of the circuits of a transnational figure who made medical history. Readers of Radical Spirits will come away with a critical appreciation of the worlds Anandi Joshee traveled through and the challenges she faced as she pursued a medical education and \"a new independent self.\" . . . Despite her short life, Dr. Joshee found kith and kin in India, Britain and beyond. Nandini Patwardhan has brought the paradoxes of her life alive for a new generation of readers.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eAntoinette Burton\u003c\/b\u003e, historian of 19th and 20th century Britain, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\". . . By telling the history of Anandi-bai Joshee, Nandini Patwardhan has crafted a uniquely intimate and revealing portrait of the long history of migrants from India to America. A beautiful story and a rich history, Radical Spirits reveals how individual lives matter, and how one pioneering woman crossed the borders of nations and cultures, as well as the gendered boundaries of the medical profession.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eNico Slate\u003c\/b\u003e, Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University and author of \u003ci\u003eGandhi's Search for the Perfect Diet: Eating with the World in Mind.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\". . . I thoroughly enjoyed every word, and I am in awe of Patwardhan's accomplishment. Dr. Joshee's life story will stay with me forever. This book is a treasure for anyone interested in strong, path-breaking women.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eJyotsna Sreenivasan\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eAnd Laughter Fell from the Sky\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAruna's Journeys\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Every significant life needs to be chronicled and remembered ... I am sure the book will inspire, motivate and educate . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eSathya Saran\u003c\/b\u003e, Indian journalist, author, and former editor of \u003ci\u003eFemina\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePatwardhan, Nandini:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eNandini Patwardhan grew up in India and has lived in the United States for the last thirty five years. A math major by training and a software developer by vocation, she is a writer by avocation. She started writing personal essays as a way to record her experiences as an Indian mom raising American kids. Soon, writing became her way of getting to the heart of her deepest convictions. A little later, she realized that her personal essays were like letters from her old self to her current self. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn writing Radical Spirits, Patwardhan the has illuminated forgotten but important aspects of Indian as well as American history, especially women's history. Hailing from the same cultural milieu and as a native speaker of Marathi, she ably synthesized the Indian side of Joshee's story. As a longtime US resident, she was able to contextualize the cultural and social forces prevalent in the US at the time that the story unfolds. In short, Patwardhan used her insider-outsider perspective in both countries she calls home-India and the United States-to tell the story of Indian and American Radical Spirits.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eI became hooked early on when I read the letters exchanged by Anandi Joshee and her many American champions. Her grit and grace and their thoughtfulness and open-mindedness were inspiring and humbling. Even though work on the book took almost a decade, I persevered because I felt compelled to share their story with the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Story Artisan Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50448183623954,"sku":"9781734063110","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4132a9a9-20a6-47ae-bfba-a0cd8a977ff2.jpg?v=1729728724","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/radical-spirits-indias-first-woman-doctor-and-her-american-champions-9781734063110","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}