India's finest writer in English' Independent
Anita Desai was born and educated in India. Her published works include many award-winning short story collections and novels, three of which have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, most recently Fasting, Feasting. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and lives in New York State.
A beautiful book of epic scope... Anita Desai has surpassed her own
previous high standards
*Literary Review*
Full of revelations and pleasures
*Independent on Sunday*
She writes an extraordinarily delicate, lucid English... She is a
writer's writer in that anyone who has ever set pen to paper must
ask himself just what it is about the writing that makes it so
memorable
*Times Literary Supplement*
Superbly powerful... A rich, evocative book
*Spectator*
A beautiful book of epic scope... Anita Desai has surpassed her own
previous high standards * Literary Review *
Full of revelations and pleasures * Independent on Sunday *
She writes an extraordinarily delicate, lucid English... She is a
writer's writer in that anyone who has ever set pen to paper must
ask himself just what it is about the writing that makes it so
memorable -- Victoria Glendinning * Times Literary Supplement *
Superbly powerful... A rich, evocative book * Spectator *
The author of Baumgartner's Bombay (LJ 3/15/89) offers another intriguing novel of India. During a seriocomic search for Eastern enlightenment, European newlyweds Matteo and Sophie encounter a living saint, the Mother. Matteo becomes a disciple, but Sophie resists, even as their stay in the Mother's model ashram stretches into years. As Matteo increasingly withdraws from a previously passionate marriage, Sophie vows to destroy her husband's spiritual obsession. To prove that the Mother is less than holy, Sophie explores the saint's past, beginning with rumors about a colorful dancing career. The quest leads Sophie along strange roads to even stranger characters in Egypt, France, Italy, and the United States. Back in India with assorted facts but few answers, she finds shocking news and a challenge waiting. An ambiguous denouement reiterates the haunting questions about sacred and profane love that echo throughout the book. Fine fare for thoughtful readers with a taste for exotic settings.‘Starr E. Smith, Marymount Univ., Arlington, Va.
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