The Best Of Anita Desai is a compilation of three of Desai’s best works: Clear Light Of Day, Baumgartner’s Bombay, and In Custody.
Clear Light Of Day, published in 1980, is set in Old Delhi. It begins with Tara, who welcomed to her childhood home in Delhi by her older sister Bimla (Bim). The tensions between the sisters are very palpable with Tara moving to US after marrying a foreign diplomat and Bim, a celibate, looking after their autistic brother Baba. The conversation between the sisters eventually leads to their brother, Raja. Bim, harboring an old insult, refuses to attend Raja’s daughter’s wedding. The story then revolves around how each of the siblings understands the other’s shortcomings and come to realize the importance of family.