Overview
- At the Jaipur Literature Festival, Desai discussed the new novel and drew one of the day’s longest signing lines, with readers sharing that the book made them feel seen.
- She said a recent drive to Dehradun sparked an alternate ending she now imagines, noting how ideas kept evolving even after publication.
- Desai described loneliness as the book’s core lens that extends beyond romance to class, race, geopolitical divides and the erosion of older worlds.
- The story moves across India, the United States and Mexico, which she said helped her view the U.S. from the outside and think of India without a colonial frame.
- She emphasized a disciplined daily practice over nearly 20 years, cutting an early 5,000-page draft to the finished volume, and recounted a brief, unsatisfying experiment asking ChatGPT to mimic her style.