In the following essays on Gita Mehta's A River Sutra, the reader is presented with two views on Mehta's novel. C.N. Ramachandran examines how Mehta's novel deviates from the context of traditional Indian literature narrative style and function. A.G. Khan also examines the text with regard to Mehta's narrative style and functioning as they work to frame the two categories of characters Khan sees, 'steadfast' and 'fugitive'.