Love, Labour and Law: Early and Child Marriage in India is a path-breaking book on an issue that has not been analysed in depth for a while, perhaps since it does not affect the elite. Today, the child brides are usually from poor families. They are of 15–17 years as compared to much younger brides in the earlier times. The book discusses why child marriages persist despite numerous legislative and policy initiatives to ‘eliminate’ the practice. The chapters examine social and legal reforms to raise the age of marriage; contemporary education and health-related policy attempts at prevention; relationship of child marriage with child labour, sex work, human trafficking and other issues. Increasingly, there is greater resistance to marriages arranged by parents from the ‘child’ brides themselves who can now access institutional and bureaucratic support. How hopeful are these developments? The book goes beyond a simple policy focus on ‘elimination’ and provides a much-needed understanding of marriage and women’s agency within the context of the Indian marriage system. Contents: Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction by Samita Sen Mary E. John Some Historiographical Challenges in Approaching Child Marriage in India Bhaswati Chatterjee Child Marriage and the Second Social Reform Movement Elvira Graner Governing Child Marriage in India: The Protracted Reform Process Ishita Savina Chowdhury and Utsarjana Mutsuddi Love and Law: Understanding Child Marriages in Rural West Bengal Deepita Chakravarty Schooling, Work and Early Marriage: Girl Children in Contemporary Bengal Samita Sen and Anindita Ghosh Wives and Workers: Early Marriage in West Bengal Tinku Khanna and Juanita Kakoty Linking Child Marriage and Prostitution: The Last Girl Biswajit Ghosh Preventing Child Marriage in West Bengal: The Experience of Barddhaman District Samita Sen and Elvira Graner A Select Bibliography Index