Synopsis Anita Desai and her novels have been an enigma for decades. Scholars, critics, researchers and students have never stopped marvelling about supremacy of 'Idea' over 'Matter' in the works of this gifted novelist. The philosophical mood, the realization of a grand design, the presence of unsaid, unarticulated realities--all these have forever teased the mind of the discerning reader. In the present volume, Anita Desai has been extensively and intensely probed. As the reader will see, the thrust has been more on psychological and intellectual facets of her fiction, rather than social, cultural or physical areas. This is the trend of criticism these days and it is rightly so. The fine subtleties, the small but significant turn of events, the role of place in the formation of mental scene, the vitality of characters, the force of their personalities, the intricate web of relationships--all these have been examined and expressed in words that are at once easy to understand as well as graceful to aesthetic sense.