7 h 41 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 41 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the freedom a husband gives his wife draws her toward another man—and a dangerous cause?
On a family estate in Bengal, Bimala lives within the quiet boundaries of marriage. Her husband, Nikhil, wants her to enter the wider world and choose him freely. Then his old friend Sandip arrives. A gifted speaker for the swadeshi movement, he brings patriotic excitement into the house, and Bimala feels its pull.
In The Home and the World, Rabindranath Tagore lets Bimala, Nikhil and Sandip tell the same weeks in their own voices. Around them, calls to reject British goods grow louder. Inside the home, love and loyalty become harder to separate from power. Nikhil refuses force, while Sandip mixes devotion to his country with a hunger for admiration.
What you’ll discover
- A wife steps outside Follow Bimala as a wider life brings desire, uncertainty and the burden of choosing.
- Love without force Meet a husband whose steady respect asks more difficult questions than possession ever could.
- The pull of Sandip Watch a magnetic speaker draw private longing into the heat of a public cause.
- Three competing voices Hear each central character speak with conviction, and weigh their claims against one another.
- Patriotism under pressure Explore what happens when the call for national freedom threatens the freedom of others.
Who will love it
Readers who love stories where private feelings collide with public causes will enjoy this novel. It suits those drawn to three narrators recounting shared events.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Devotion shapes Bimala's idea of love
- Nikhil wants love without walls
- Patriotism enters the quiet household
- Sandip makes Bimala feel needed
- Sandip turns desire into a law
- Nikhil refuses to compel love
- The cause begins demanding coercion
- Theft exposes the distance beneath admiration
- Causes must be weighed against people
Who’s who
- BimalaA young wife raised to worship her husband, who is drawn out of the women's rooms into politics and passion.
- NikhilA gentle, educated landowner who wants his wife to be free, and who refuses to use force even in love.
- SandipA charismatic Swadeshi speaker and Nikhil's old friend, who preaches that taking is the only law and wants Bimala and money.
- Chandranath BabuNikhil's elderly teacher, calm and wise, who warns against mistaking excitement for work and blesses Bimala as little mother.
- The Bara RaniNikhil's widowed sister-in-law, sharp-tongued and watchful, who has spent her whole life in the house and loves its master.
- AmulyaA devoted young follower of Sandip, trusting and brave, who comes to call Bimala his sister.
- PanchuA poor tenant and small trader whose troubles show what the cause costs ordinary villagers.
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The Home and the World
by Rabindranath Tagore · 1916
A landowner invites his devoted wife into the wider world, and a fiery patriot walks in behind her.
Medium level2–5 hours to read16 languages
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In short
What happens to a marriage when a whole country catches fire? In The Home and the World, a wealthy landowner in Bengal tells his wife to step out of the women's rooms and meet the wider world.
The Home and the World at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 25 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 15 min slow
- Length
- 63,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1916by Rabindranath Tagore
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Bimala is raised to see devotion as beauty
The book opens with Bimala remembering her mother, with the red mark in her hair and her deep, peaceful eyes. As a child Bimala asks God only that she might grow into a model wife.
She marries into an old family of Rajahs. Her husband, Nikhil, is dark as well, so her shame eases. She rises early and quietly takes the dust from his feet while he sleeps. One morning he wakes and asks what she is doing, and she is mortified.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1916
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-home-and-the-world.
Tagore, R. (2026). The home and the world. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-home-and-the-world (Original work published 1916)
Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-home-and-the-world.
@book{tagore2026home,
author = {Tagore, Rabindranath},
title = {The Home and the World},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-home-and-the-world},
note = {First published 1916}
}
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What is The Home and the World about?
It follows Bimala, a wife in a Bengali landowning family, as her husband Nikhil invites her into the wider world and the charismatic Sandip draws her into the Swadeshi movement, testing her marriage and loyalties.
Who tells the story in The Home and the World?
Three narrators tell it in turn: Bimala the wife, Nikhil her husband and Sandip his friend. Each speaks in the first person, so you hear the same events from three different viewpoints.
What does Swadeshi mean in the novel?
Swadeshi means of one's own country. It names the movement that urged Indians to boycott foreign goods and support Indian industries, which in the book becomes a cause of passionate debate and conflict.
The author
Rabindranath Tagore
1861–1941 · Bengali poet and philosopher
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a Bengali poet and writer born in Calcutta, British India, where he also died. He lived in Bengal and founded a school at Santiniketan in 1901. He wrote poetry, stories, plays and essays. His Bengali collection Gitanjali appeared in 1910; his English version appeared in 1912.
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