Kuala Lampur, Oct. 18 -- Women have come a long way. There was a time when a woman's path in life was limited to being a wife, a servant, or worse a victim of circumstance.

Back in the early 20th century, many women had little say over their own future. The Indonesian writer Hamka, in his classic 1931 novel Terusir, painted a painful picture of how society treated women who dared to be different.

The story follows Mariah, a woman whose life falls apart after being falsely accused of wrongdoing.

Her husband casts her out, separating her from her child, and society turns its back on her.

Alone and desperate, Mariah is forced into a life she never chose not because of guilt, but because of judgment.

Through her story, Hamka exposes how ...