Having taken many odd jobs in her early youth, she finally joined the public service, leaving in 2004 to become a full-time writer. She started writing in the late-1970s, and novels in the mid-1980s, finding early success with her novel
Kacher Dewal (Glass Wall). Her writing focuses on contemporary social issues. Her life experiences are reflected in many of her stories and novels. Bhattacharya was enthusiastic about fellow contemporary women author
Tilottama Majumdar, and was deeply influenced by
Ashapurna Devi and
Mahasweta Devi. Her novels and short stories have been translated into
Hindi,
Tamil,
Telugu,
Malayalam,
Oriya,
Marathi,
Gujarati,
Punjabi and English. She has also written novels and short stories for children. Her novel
Dahan was made into the 1997 film
Dahan by Bengali director
Rituparno Ghosh. The first novel with Mitin Masi was
Sarandai Saitan, followed by:
Sarporahosya sundarbone, Jhau jhien hotyarorosya, Dussapno bar bar, Sander saheber Puthi and others. Other Mitin Masi novels were written for adults. Suchitra Bhattacharya died on 12 May 2015, aged 65, due to a cardiac arrest at her home in Dhakuria, Kolkata. ==Awards and accolades==