One week, One book - 03

 

I was fascinated reading Rosarita by Anita Desai. 💐

Once before, I had entered Anita Desai’s imaginary world through "The Village by the Sea". Rosarita, for me, was a huge turn from that world. From the simple language to the lyrical richness of the vocabulary, and more than that, the mind blowing story itself truly deserves to be praised as “Desai’s transcendent late gift.” 

It is really a gift. 😌

The story begins in Mexico, in a park in San Miguel. There, a strange woman, who introduces herself as Victoria, sees a young girl who looks very much like her old friend Rosarita. Years ago, Rosarita had come to Mexico to learn painting, and now Victoria approaches the girl with so much happiness, believing she has met the daughter of her beloved friend. But the girl, Bonita, who is clearly Indian, rejects her completely. She says her deceased mother’s name was Sarita, not Rosarita  and that she had never come to Mexico or studied art.

From one situation to another, the novella increases the breathing rate of the reader, making us constantly think what the reality is.

Did her mother come to Mexico and learnt painting? Is Victoria telling the truth?

Or? 

Whatever the truth may be, the long lasting absences in Bonita’s life, the experiences she had in her grandparents’ house, the silence around her mother, and the emptiness of her own home, make her travel with Victoria, the woman whom she calls “The Trickster” (brings the archetypal meaning of Trickster) to reveal the secret. It happens with Bonita's deep need to find the real identity of her mother: Rosarita, whom she has  known as Sarita.

More than that, as readers, we engage with the journey because Desai has used the second person point of view, making us Rosarita. We are not only readers, we search. 

Since the writer has touched both the Indian Partition and the Mexican Revolution, the story strongly presents themes of partition, identity, and belongingness.

Furthermore, Desai has carried rooted Indianness throughout the novella: from the rejection of Victoria, to the University of Benares, to Rosarita’s role as a wife and mother, and the interventions of Bonita’s grandparents. 

Even Bonita’s wish to learn language beautifully suggests another bitter truth of many Asian countries which is the desire of youngsters to escape to Europe hoping for a better life, just as people once chased the American Dream.

A magical literary piece. ♥️♥️

Tharushi
23.04.2026