Academia and Society Jennifer Flora Garrett 12 1 2025 https://doi.org/10.6025/aas/2025/12/1/35-42 https://www.dline.info/aas/fulltext/v12n1/aasv12n1_3.pdf Modern Indian fiction in English has explored the inner lives, struggles, and aspirations of women, highlighting their quest for recognition and dignity within family and society. This paper examines Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel Sister of My Heart, focusing on Sudha's journey toward autonomy and selfhood. Divakaruni portrays women negotiating tradition, familial obligations, and personal freedom, within both Indian and diasporic contexts. Sudha's experiences emphasise resilience, self-assertion, and the pursuit of a meaningful existence. The study also examines how Divakaruni integrates cultural nostalgia, folklore, and Bengali linguistic markers, while questioning whether these cultural anchors suffice for women negotiating transnational and patriarchal spaces.