"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

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.