Anita Desai's in Custody: A Critical Appraisal

A memorable book. The best that Anita Desai has written. Paul Bailey in the Evening Standard (about In Custody) The beauty of In Custody is that what seems to be a story of inevitable tragedies turns out to be a tale of triumph over these tragedies. Magnificent. Salman Rushdie in the Observer The novel In Custody by Anita Desai is significant as Desai here explores the psyche of male protagonist outside the circumscriptions of familial ties and obligations. She makes a departure from her earlier obsessive preoccupation with the interior landscape of hypersensitive and neurotic women. Anita Desais In Custody: A Critical Appraisal attempts to decipher even the un-deciphered issues of the novel. It offers an exhaustive critical commentary on the novel and the novelist. The book, comprising various articles on Indian-English fiction, Anita Desai, her art of plot construction, theme, characterization, narrative technique, textual issues, imagery, symbolism, etc. explores Desais fictional world. It highlights the textual treasure and interpretations in a very simple way for easy comprehension by the readers. It will be useful to the students and teachers of English literature, particularly Indian English literature, and researchers in these fields.