ROSARITA: the first novel in over a decade from three times Booker-shortlisted author Anita Desai | 'Anita Desai is a magnificent writer' – Salman Rushdie
Synopsis
From three times Booker Prize-shortlisted author Anita Desai, Rosarita is a beautiful, haunting novel that explores memory, grief, isolation, and a young woman’s determination to forge her own path.
Bonita, a young student from India, sits on a park bench in San Miguel, Mexico – where she has arrived to learn Spanish. She is alone in this place to which she...
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Reviews
‘Anita Desai is a magnificent writer’ – Salman Rushdie
‘Anita Desai is one of the most brilliant and subtle writers ever to have described the meeting of Eastern and Western culture’ – Alison Lurie
‘It’s been over a decade since (Anita Desai's) last work of fiction. She’s a writer I’ve loved since my adolescence, whose sharp observations and elegant sentences I admire increasingly as the years go on. Every new work from her is a gift’ – Kamila Shamsie, Stylist
‘As taut and weird and entrancing as a story by Jorge Luis Borges. If Rosarita is to be her swansong . . . then it’s a magnificent way to go out’ – Telegraph (5 star review)
‘Rosarita is a must-read for those who like Anita Desai’s rich yet restrained prose’ – Deccan Herald
‘(A) subtle and enigmatic story’ – Financial Times
‘Coming to Rosarita is like returning to a favourite old place by the sea and registering with a pleasant shock that the quality of light there is as searing as you remember it from the last time.’ – Hindu Frontline
‘(Anita Desai’s) clear-eyed prose is a lasting example of what beautiful writing should be’ – Scroll.in
‘The three-times Booker-shortlisted writer is back with a poignant novella about one young woman’s thwarted attempt to escape her past . . . a thoughtful read that will delight Desai stalwarts and send newcomers scurrying to her impressive backlist; leaving all hopeful this won’t be her last piece of short fiction’ – The i
‘There is a dreamy and wistful mood to this very short gem, lulling in its revelations and comforting in its gentle appeal. A wonder of a novel’ – Irish Independent
‘Rosarita, I am pleased to say, is a transcendent late gift: both a testament to Desai’s enduring genius as a writer and a wholly remarkable vindication of literature’s power to illuminate the conundrums of human experience . . . a novel of profound philosophical inquiry’ – Guardian
‘Desai has a wicked, subtle humour . . . and her characters are beautifully described . . . Her writing is polished and mature, with a wit she cleverly underplays’ – Daily Telegraph
‘Desai’s prose is unparalleled’ – Financial Express
‘Tantalising’ – Financial Times
‘A novel that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, exploring themes of love, loss, and redemption with a rare sensitivity and insight . . . a novel that is not to be missed’ – FlipTheMedia
‘To compare Anita Desai's fiction with that of Chekhov or the short stories of Tolstoy is not extravagant; it is entirely warranted’ – Irish Times
‘One of the most gifted of contemporary Indian writers’ – New Yorker
‘Explores themes of memory, sorrow, and loneliness, delving deep into the connections between people and the impact of their personal histories – PTI
‘Anita Desai writes exquisitely’ – Scotsman
‘All her stories are full of a confidence in human nature that is a rarity and a pleasure to encounter’ – Spectator
‘Her writing is sensuous, radical and uncannily perceptive … She has the ability to shape and refine a piece of work of her own intense imagination into an independent work of art’ – The Times
‘Lovely in the first read and lovelier still the second time around.’ – Moneycontrol
‘Quietly powerful.’ – LiveMint