Anita Desai is one of the best-known contemporary women writers of Indian

fiction in English. Born to a Bengali father and a German mother, she is an

excellent example of the bicultural heritage of postcolonial India. Desai grew
up in Delhi, receiving her education first at Queen Mary’s School and later at
Miranda House, one of Delhi University’s most prestigious colleges. Starting
to write at the early age of seven, she published her first novel, Cry, the
Peacock, in 1963. This work immediately established her as a major voice in
Indian literature in Englis
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