Quote by Anita Desai: “The garden was a place of refuge, a retreat from the world.”

This quote illustrates how a natural space can serve as a sanctuary, offering solace and an escape from the pressures and demands of external life. It highlights the importance of finding personal havens.

In Fire on the Mountain, the protagonist Nanda Kaul retreats to a house in the mountains, making her garden a symbol of her chosen solitude and resistance against societal intrusions.

Indian novelist and short story writer, born in Mussoorie in 1937, and three-time Booker Prize shortlistee. Her novels — including Clear Light of Day, Baumgartner's Bombay, and In Custody — explore the inner lives of women and the textures of post-independence Indian society with psychological precision.