In Custody

Now a Merchant Ivory Film

What possessed Deven to leave his safe, mediocre world and take on the greatest challenge of his life?

Meek and self-effacing, Deven is resigned to his life as a lecturer in an obscure college in the dusty, shapeless town of Mirpore. When, unexpectedly, an old friend, Murad, invites him to go to Delhi to interview the greatest living Urdu poet, Deven sees a chance both to achieve fame and to fulfil his dreams. It is far too late to turn back when Deven realizes that his dream is turning into a disaster. For Nur is not the ascetic, magical genius of Deven’s imaginings, but a weak, grasping old man whose creative days are long since over.

‘The beauty of In Custody is that what seems to be a story of inevitable tragedies...turns out to be a tale of triumph over these tragedies...magnificent'’
—Salman Rushdie in the Observer

‘Resonant and realistic’
—Peter Kemp in The Sunday Times

‘A deft, sometimes savage comedy’
—The New York Times Book Review

‘A memorable book, the best that Anita Desai has written.’
—Paul Bailey in The Evening Standard