Mahasweta Devi is one of India's foremost literary figures, a prolific and best-selling author in Bengali of short fiction and novels, and a deeply political social activist who has been working in marginalized communities for decades.

Breast Stories is a collection of short fiction that focuses on the breast as more than a symbol of beauty, eroticism, or motherhood. Instead, it is seen as a harsh indictment of an exploitative social system and a weapon of resistance. At a time when violence towards women in India has escalated exponentially, Devi's acerbic writing exposes the inherently vicious systems in Indian society.