Janka has emerged from her “ice-plains,” her cerebral realms of pure thought, to bask in the strong sunshine of life. A summer with a friend has introduced her to a love-addled suitor, but her heart is fixed on another’s more intellectual charms. Meanwhile, the difference in how Polish society accepts men and women’s actions is becoming increasingly apparent to Janka and her wider group of associates.

Women is Zofia Nałkowska’s first novel. The first part was published in The Truth in 1904; the remaining two parts were published in 1906, completing the book right in the middle of the modernist Young Poland movement. This translation was published in 1920.