Desai is one of the leading Anglo-Indian fiction writers of the 20th Century. Anglo-Indian places Desai with other Indian writers whose works are originally written in English (rather than Hindi, or any of India's regional languages). The first Anglo- Indian novel, Rajmohan's Wife, was written by Chandra Chatterjee, and the first modern Indian novelist was Bankim Chandra. According to R.K. Dhawan, "The Indian English novelist until the thirties wrote for a readership largely Indian and unmistakably nationalist." Writing in 1989, Dhawan explains that, "The Indian English fiction in post- Independent India has assumed over the preceding thirty years all kinds of colourful traditions. It is now free from the social and political overtones of a rabidly nationalistic variety." Dhawan concludes that "The Indian English novel has enjoyed its golden period during the last few decades." Desai is the most widely recognized of contemporary female Indian novelists...