Published Paper Details:

Abstract As writers of English, Anita Desai and Kiran Desai, both have attracted extensive critical attention in India and abroad. This is due to several factors such as the complexity of form and theme in their novels, conforming to the broad parameters of the Anglo-American tradition of the psychological novel but retaining the fundamentals of the Indian sensibility and socio-cultural ethos of India, focusing on the significant questions of status of women, subtle portrayal of the protagonists� quest for self-assertion and self-actualization in the face of the rigid codes of behavior in a conformist and status loving society. The novels Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai project an objectification of several dilemmas and predicaments of human life that lend these works a universal appeal and a keen desire to delve deep into the human mind to find answers to the existential queries. Both the novels reflect upon the human psyche that reacts in diverse ways to the intricacies of reality faced while thriving in this world. The sensitivity of the characters and the psychological study of the innermost recess of the mind appeal the most. A broad comparison of the two narratives brings to light a latent similarity in the minds of the mother-daughter novelists.