Matrilineal Communities, Patriarchal Realities provides a path-breaking explanation of the causes, and traces both the negative and positive consequences, of female-headed households in Eastern Sri Lanka. Negative consequences revolve around female poverty, male domination, and subordination; positive consequences revolve around ways in which patriarchal relations can often be challenged and circumvented. Through a finely nuanced study of Muslim, Sinhala and Tamil households in Eastern Sri Lanka, we learn of both the commonality of patriarchal structures and economic problems in such households, as well as the differences created by ethnicities that divide them.