Set on a Bengali noble's estate in 1908, this is both a love story and a novel of political awakening. The central character, Bimala, is torn between the duties owed to her husband, Nikhil, and the demands made on her by the radical leader, Sandip. Her at
In The Zigzag Way, the critically acclaimed novelist Anita Desai offers a gorgeously nuanced story of expatriates and travelers adrift in an unfamiliar land. Eric, a young American historian, has come to Mexico on his first trip abroad. His search for his
Upon the recent publication of Fasting, Feasting, critics raved about Anita Desai: "Desai is more than smart; she's an undeniable genius" (Washington Post Book World). The Wall Street Journal called Fasting, Feasting "poignant, penetrating . . . a splendi
Cry, the Peacock is the story of a young girl, Maya, obsessed by a childhood prophecy of disaster. The author builds up an atmosphere of tension as torrid and oppressive as a stiffling Indian summer, both in the crowded, colourful cities and the strangely
Touching and wonderfully funny, In Custody is woven around the yearnings and calamities of a small town scholar in the north of India. An impoverished college lecturer, Deven, sees a way to escape from the meanness of his daily life when he is asked to in
A "beautifully written, richly textured, and haunting story" (Chaim Potok), BAUMGARTNER'S BOMBAY is Anita Desai's classic novel of the Holocaust era, a story of profound emotional wounds of war and its exiles. The novel follows Hugo Baumgartner as he flee
"Taking us into the houses, streets, villages, cities - and hearts - of people around the globe, this exciting collection makes accessible a truly cross-cultural selection of important short fiction. Twenty-five contemporary stories from five cultures far
First published in 1978 and now reissued in a new cover style, a collection of 11 short stories from the author of BAUMGARTNER'S BOMBAY. Includes tales about an American wife who, homesick for rural Vermont, turns to the hippies of the Indian hills for co