I haven't finished this story, but I posted it because I liked it.
A real pit, pit, pit! Please be careful before reading.
It's a short story (the full-length novel died in infancy), it's about soul piercing, it's about the female protagonist being respected in a patriarchal society, and she's running around with three husbands and four attendants, and the female protagonist is not cute, kind, or virtuous...