Clear Light of Day, novel that is regarded as the best work written by English-language Indian author Anita Desai. The book, published in 1980, evokes the world in which Desai grew up.
Clear Light of Day, a finely detailed novel, is set in a crumbling mansion in Old Delhi. It describes the tense and fractious relationships within a deeply divided group of siblings who came of age in the 1940s and draws parallels with the seismic historical events of India’s partition, the death of Gandhi, and the ensuing struggle for political power.
The two central characters are the estranged sisters Bim and Tara, brought together again in 1980 on the occasion of their niece’s wedding. Bim, the elder sister, has never married, remaining in the house in which they grew up to care for their autistic younger brother, Baba. Tara escaped from both the house and the traditions that ruled it by marrying a diplomat, Bakul, and going to live abroad. Bim refuses to go to the wedding of the daughter of their brother Raja in Hyderabad because of a letter in which Raja, who inherited the house from his father-in-law, Hyder Ali, unintentionally insulted Bim by saying that he would not raise the rent.
The second part of the novel takes place in 1947, when the siblings are adolescents. Raja’s interest in Urdu literature has brought him favorable attention from Hyder Ali, and Raja wishes to study at an Islamic college in Hyderabad, but their father objects that a Hindu student would not be safe there. Both parents die, and Aunt Mira, a widowed relative who raised the children, as the parents were too busy socializing, descends into alcoholism. Raja becomes ill with tuberculosis, and Bim is left to care for him as well as Baba and Aunt Mira. Eventually, the much-younger Tara marries Bakul and leaves the house. In the days following the partition, Hyder Ali moves to Hyderabad. After Raja recovers his health and Aunt Mira dies, Raja also moves to Hyderabad.
The third section moves farther back in time, to the siblings’ childhood. It describes the birth of Baba and the gradual realization that he is autistic, and the arrival of Aunt Mira, who is more affectionate toward the children than their parents. Bim and Raja enjoy school and education, but Tara dislikes school. All of the children feel stifled in the house and seek a way to leave. Raja spends more time with the family of Hyder Ali, angering Bim. Tara believes that she will find her escape in marriage, but Bim believes that marriage imprisons women and plans to remain independent.
The final section of the book returns to 1980. Tara finds Bim embittered and defensive, unable to forgive what she regards as betrayal of her family. She presses Bim to reconcile with Raja, but Bim becomes increasingly angry. Eventually, however, the siblings work out most of their problems, and Bim, while still refusing to attend the wedding, tells Tara to let Raja know that Bim would welcome a visit from Raja and his family.
Born in India to a Bengali father and a German mother, Desai has said that while she “feels about India as an Indian, she thinks about India as an outsider.” She has described history as “a kind of juggernaut,” and in many of her novels the protagonists are swept along by historical and social forces that they struggle in vain to control. In Clear Light of Day, she examines the effects of the partition on contemporary Indian society, uses the natural setting to amplify and evoke the emotions of the characters, and focuses on the way that history impacts the lives of the two women and their very different quests for fulfillment.