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British Indian author brings Amrita Sher-Gil's story to fiction
BBC journalist's second novel fictionalizes the life of pioneering modern Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil.
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Ankita Baidya - Fri, 26, Jun 2026
- 05:26 EDT
- 30
BBC journalist Reeta Chakrabarti has announced her second novel, An Impossible Woman on X. / X/@reetacbbc
BBC journalist and newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti has announced her second novel, An Impossible Woman, a fictionalized account of the life of pioneering artist Amrita Sher-Gil, one of the most influential figures in modern Indian art.
Chakrabarti shared the announcement on social media, describing Sher-Gil as a woman who "dazzled and scandalised in equal measure." The novel is scheduled for publication next spring, although further details, including the publisher and release date, have not yet been announced.
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Sher-Gil, widely regarded as one of India's greatest modern artists, was born in Budapest in 1913 to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian-Jewish mother. Her family later moved to Shimla before she studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Blending European modernism with Indian artistic traditions, Sher-Gil produced around 150 paintings during her short career and is often credited with helping shape the course of modern Indian art. She died in Lahore in 1941 at the age of 28.
The forthcoming novel follows Chakrabarti's debut work, Finding Belle, which was published by HarperCollins in May 2025 under a two-book deal. The novel follows Mivvi, whose mother, Belle, an Indian woman from Mombasa, marries a British man and struggles with displacement and mental illness after moving to suburban England. The story spans Kenya, India and the United Kingdom, exploring migration, identity and family across generations.
I don’t post much here but had to share this - my second novel, An Impossible Woman is a fictionalised account of the Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, who dazzled and scandalised in equal measure. It’s out next spring - pls watch for more details soon… pic.twitter.com/wTfmqX9ojr
— Reeta Chakrabarti (@reetacbbc) June 25, 2026
Born in Ealing, London, to an Indian Bengali family, Chakrabarti spent part of her childhood in Kolkata, where she attended Calcutta International School before returning to the United Kingdom. She joined the BBC in 1992 and is one of the corporation's best-known news presenters, regularly anchoring BBC News at One, BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten.
Alongside her broadcasting career, Chakrabarti has been active in Britain's literary community. She served as a judge for the 2021 David Cohen Prize for Literature, chaired the 2021 Costa Book of the Year and the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award, and is Chancellor of York St John University.
With An Impossible Woman, Chakrabarti turns to one of the most celebrated figures in Indian art, bringing Sher-Gil's extraordinary life to contemporary readers through historical fiction.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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