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Rosarita
By Anita Desai
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Table of Contents
About The Book
From “world-class writer” (The Washington Post) and three-time Booker finalist Anita Desai, an exquisitely written stunning exploration of love, place, memory, history, and the secrets between a mother and her daughter.
Away from her home in India to study Spanish, Bonita sits on a bench in El Jardin de San Miguel, Mexico, basking in the park’s lush beauty, when she slowly becomes aware that she is being watched. An elderly woman approaches her, claiming that she knew Bonita’s mother—that they had been friends when Bonita’s mother had lived in Mexico as a talented young artist. Bonita tells the stranger that she must be mistaken; her mother was not a painter and had never travelled to Mexico. Though the stranger leaves, Bonita cannot shake the feeling that she is being followed.
Days later, haunted by the encounter, Bonita seeks out the woman, whom she calls The Trickster, and follows her on a tour of what may, or may not, have been her mother’s past. As a series of mysterious events brilliantly unfold, Bonita is unable to escape The Trickster’s presence, as she is forced to confront questions of truth and identity, and specters of familial and national violence.
A masterpiece of storytelling from a gifted writer, Rosarita is a profound mediation on mothers and marriage, art and self-expression, and how the traumas from the past can impact future generations.
Away from her home in India to study Spanish, Bonita sits on a bench in El Jardin de San Miguel, Mexico, basking in the park’s lush beauty, when she slowly becomes aware that she is being watched. An elderly woman approaches her, claiming that she knew Bonita’s mother—that they had been friends when Bonita’s mother had lived in Mexico as a talented young artist. Bonita tells the stranger that she must be mistaken; her mother was not a painter and had never travelled to Mexico. Though the stranger leaves, Bonita cannot shake the feeling that she is being followed.
Days later, haunted by the encounter, Bonita seeks out the woman, whom she calls The Trickster, and follows her on a tour of what may, or may not, have been her mother’s past. As a series of mysterious events brilliantly unfold, Bonita is unable to escape The Trickster’s presence, as she is forced to confront questions of truth and identity, and specters of familial and national violence.
A masterpiece of storytelling from a gifted writer, Rosarita is a profound mediation on mothers and marriage, art and self-expression, and how the traumas from the past can impact future generations.
Reading Group Guide
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This reading group guide for Rosarita includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
Rosarita is an exquisitely written, stunning exploration of love, place, memory, history, and the secrets between a mother and her daughter.
Away from her home in India to study Spanish, Bonita sits on a bench in the Jardín in San Miguel, Mexico, basking in the park’s lush beauty, when she slowly becomes aware that she is being watched. An elderly woman approaches her, claiming that she knew Bonita’s mother—that they had been friends when Bonita’s mother had lived in Mexico as a talented young artist. Bonita tells the stranger that she must be mistaken; her mother was not a painter and had never travelled to Mexico. Though the stranger leaves, Bonita cannot shake the feeling of being followed.
Days later, haunted by the encounter, Bonita seeks out the woman and follows her on a tour of what may, or may not, have been her mother’s past. As a series of mysterious events brilliantly unfolds, Bonita is unable to escape the Stranger’s presence, as she is forced to confront questions of truth and identity, and specters of familial and national violence.
A masterpiece of storytelling from a gifted writer, Rosarita is a profound mediation on mothers and marriage, art and self-expression, and how the traumas from the past can impact future generations.
Topics and Questions for Discussion
Go back to the first five pages of the book. How does Desai set the scene? What details does she use to vividly conjure a time and place?
Think about the names that appear in this book—Rosarita, Sarita, Bonita, the Stranger. What are we, as readers, supposed to make of them?
Rosarita is told in the second person. How does this point of view shape our understanding of the story?
Bonita first encounters the Stranger in the Jardín in San Miguel; she also has fond memories of her grandmother’s garden in India. What is the significance of gardens in Rosarita? How does this symbolism illuminate the rest of the narrative?
In the book, the Jardín is the “third space” that makes Bonita’s encounter with the Stranger possible. Reflect on the significance of third spaces. Who, and what, do they service?
On page 33, Desai introduces the concept of “learned fearlessness.” How does learned fearlessness factor throughout the book? How do each of the characters learn fearlessness? And to what extent can fearlessness truly be learned?
When Bonita goes with the Stranger to the art school, the Stranger emphasizes, on page 47, “Here we had Rev-o-lu-tion, not war.” What is the Stranger saying here? What does it have to do with the “gringos” she describes later on in the conversation?
Throughout the book, we see our characters in motion, moving from one country to another, from one spot to another (often via public transport), even from room to room. What do you make of movement throughout the book? What drives that movement? How do the notions of voluntary and forced movement factor into the story?
When Bonita arrives at La Manzanilla, the year-round dwellers tell her why she should stay—and why they do stay. Think about stasis. Do the characters always stay somewhere for the reasons they tell themselves they do?
Throughout the book, there’s the ever-present question of whether Bonita truly is following her mother’s path. Does it matter either way?
When faced with the possibility of knowing her mother’s story, Bonita feels a dissonance: to know, or not to know? Think about the choices she made in the face of this dissonance. Do you think she made the right ones, despite where they led her?
Now that you’ve read Rosarita, you know that the book isn’t about just one thing. Pick a line that, to you, illuminates the book’s most central idea.
Enhance Your Book Club
Read about the Partition of India of 1947 and the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s. How do these histories shape your understanding of Rosarita?
Look at the work of Satish Gujral, the painter mentioned in Desai’s author’s note. What strikes you about these paintings? What are some common themes across Gujral’s work? Which is your favorite, and why?
The Trickster is a classic archetype in literature. How does Desai’s deployment of this archetype both follow and break tradition?
How does Desai redefine and disrupt the trope of flâneur, a nineteenth-century French term to describe an aimless (historically male) stroller?
On page 36, Desai writes, “But now you are allowing your own experience of that journey to substitute hers. You have not yet recovered her experience of it.” Reflect on this sentiment, and think of a time you substituted your journey for someone else’s. What drove you to substitute or project? Can you relate to Bonita’s thought process?
Introduction
Rosarita is an exquisitely written, stunning exploration of love, place, memory, history, and the secrets between a mother and her daughter.
Away from her home in India to study Spanish, Bonita sits on a bench in the Jardín in San Miguel, Mexico, basking in the park’s lush beauty, when she slowly becomes aware that she is being watched. An elderly woman approaches her, claiming that she knew Bonita’s mother—that they had been friends when Bonita’s mother had lived in Mexico as a talented young artist. Bonita tells the stranger that she must be mistaken; her mother was not a painter and had never travelled to Mexico. Though the stranger leaves, Bonita cannot shake the feeling of being followed.
Days later, haunted by the encounter, Bonita seeks out the woman and follows her on a tour of what may, or may not, have been her mother’s past. As a series of mysterious events brilliantly unfolds, Bonita is unable to escape the Stranger’s presence, as she is forced to confront questions of truth and identity, and specters of familial and national violence.
A masterpiece of storytelling from a gifted writer, Rosarita is a profound mediation on mothers and marriage, art and self-expression, and how the traumas from the past can impact future generations.
Topics and Questions for Discussion
Go back to the first five pages of the book. How does Desai set the scene? What details does she use to vividly conjure a time and place?
Think about the names that appear in this book—Rosarita, Sarita, Bonita, the Stranger. What are we, as readers, supposed to make of them?
Rosarita is told in the second person. How does this point of view shape our understanding of the story?
Bonita first encounters the Stranger in the Jardín in San Miguel; she also has fond memories of her grandmother’s garden in India. What is the significance of gardens in Rosarita? How does this symbolism illuminate the rest of the narrative?
In the book, the Jardín is the “third space” that makes Bonita’s encounter with the Stranger possible. Reflect on the significance of third spaces. Who, and what, do they service?
On page 33, Desai introduces the concept of “learned fearlessness.” How does learned fearlessness factor throughout the book? How do each of the characters learn fearlessness? And to what extent can fearlessness truly be learned?
When Bonita goes with the Stranger to the art school, the Stranger emphasizes, on page 47, “Here we had Rev-o-lu-tion, not war.” What is the Stranger saying here? What does it have to do with the “gringos” she describes later on in the conversation?
Throughout the book, we see our characters in motion, moving from one country to another, from one spot to another (often via public transport), even from room to room. What do you make of movement throughout the book? What drives that movement? How do the notions of voluntary and forced movement factor into the story?
When Bonita arrives at La Manzanilla, the year-round dwellers tell her why she should stay—and why they do stay. Think about stasis. Do the characters always stay somewhere for the reasons they tell themselves they do?
Throughout the book, there’s the ever-present question of whether Bonita truly is following her mother’s path. Does it matter either way?
When faced with the possibility of knowing her mother’s story, Bonita feels a dissonance: to know, or not to know? Think about the choices she made in the face of this dissonance. Do you think she made the right ones, despite where they led her?
Now that you’ve read Rosarita, you know that the book isn’t about just one thing. Pick a line that, to you, illuminates the book’s most central idea.
Enhance Your Book Club
Read about the Partition of India of 1947 and the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s. How do these histories shape your understanding of Rosarita?
Look at the work of Satish Gujral, the painter mentioned in Desai’s author’s note. What strikes you about these paintings? What are some common themes across Gujral’s work? Which is your favorite, and why?
The Trickster is a classic archetype in literature. How does Desai’s deployment of this archetype both follow and break tradition?
How does Desai redefine and disrupt the trope of flâneur, a nineteenth-century French term to describe an aimless (historically male) stroller?
On page 36, Desai writes, “But now you are allowing your own experience of that journey to substitute hers. You have not yet recovered her experience of it.” Reflect on this sentiment, and think of a time you substituted your journey for someone else’s. What drove you to substitute or project? Can you relate to Bonita’s thought process?
About The Author
Photography by Beowulf Sheehan
Anita Desai is a renowned author born and educated in India. She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times for her novels Clear Light of Day, In Custody, and Fasting, Feasting. She is the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in New York.
Product Details
- Publisher: Scribner (January 7, 2025)
- Length: 112 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668082430
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Raves and Reviews
Praise for Rosarita
A New York Magazine and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2025
Named a Best Novel of the Year by The Financial Times and The Guardian
“[A] hushed, exacting novel.” —The New Yorker
“Tantalizing...elusive...Desai’s writing is determined to remind us how uncertain our world is.” —The Minneapolis Star Tribune
“This compelling short work of magical realism will stay in readers’ minds for a long time.” —Library Journal, starred review
“A haunting meditation on identity and understanding.” —Kirkus, starred review
"Desai is exceptionally attuned to the power of suggestion, tug of secrets, mutability of memories, and the anguish of women denied lives of their choosing. Her profound sense of place yields exquisitely rendered scenes saturated with the land's bloody past and the traumas families inherit. As Bonita’s quest leads her to the sea, Desai leaves us stunned by nature’s glory and humanity’s capacity for horror and joy, loneliness and love."—Donna Seaman, Booklist
“Evocative… subtle and enigmatic... Desai revels in equivocation and possibility, embracing the ambiguity of memory itself to tell a shimmering, sometimes fevered tale in which a mother and daughter are pulled apart and fused together. In Rosarita, the known rubs up against the unknown, and a kaleidoscopic network of possible lives are lost and found in barely 100 pages.” —Financial Times (UK)
“A novel about storytelling, history and belonging. It is about the desire to know one’s forebears, and therefore gain a greater insight into oneself…a beautiful rejoinder to the glib and common-place phrase one hears far too much today: it is what it is…There is a dreamy and wistful mood to this very short gem, lulling in its revelations and comforting in its gentle appeal. A wonder of a novel.”—Irish Independent
"Provocative...intriguing...will leave readers wanting more."—Publishers Weekly
“Rosarita is not the Desai of Clear Light of Day (1980) or Fasting, Feasting (1999), those great, studiously realist and Booker shortlisted novels of Indian family life. This is a much more ludic tale, as taut and weird and entrancing as a story by Jorge Luis Borges. If it is to be her swansong – Desai is 87 years old – then it’s a magnificent way to go out.”—The Telegraph (UK)
“Poignant…intense and unsettling …Rosarita is a thoughtful read that will delight Desai stalwarts and send newcomers scurrying to her impressive backlist; leaving all hopeful that this won’t be her last piece of short fiction.”—The i
Praise for Anita Desai
“Anita Desai is a magnificent writer.” —Salman Rushdie
“If you've never read anything by Anita Desai, you're out of excuses. One of India's most celebrated writers, she's been publishing for almost 50 years and come close to winning the Booker Prize three times…a world-class writer… Desai takes a certain perverse pleasure in exposing the self-pity of mediocre people; if Anita Brookner were a little meaner, she might write like this.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Whether in India, Mexico or America, Desai’s characters tend to be easy marks for new possibilities — for something, anything, other than life as it is…For a writer so taken with such arrangements, the best results are minor-key masterpieces… At her finest, Desai is a brilliant anatomist of people.” —The New York Times
“Through the deceptively simple juxtaposition of opposites and the interweaving and repetition of themes in these two narratives, Desai builds a complex and elegant fiction.” —The Boston Globe
“Desai is more than smart; she's an undeniable genius.” —Carolyn See, The Washington Post
“Anita Desai is considered one of the foremost Indian authors writing in English. Her novels convey the tangled complexities of Indian tradition, with an economy of language that is clean, simple and elegantly straightforward.” —Denver Post
“The peerless chronicler . . . [of] a world which is already disappearing.” —Independent (U.K.)
“To compare Anita Desai's fiction with that of Chekhov or the short stories of Tolstoy is not extravagant; it is entirely warranted.” —Irish Times
“One of the most accomplished novelists writing today.” —Fay Weldon
“Desai's characters are wonderfully, fallibly human.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“Anita Desai is a wonderfully subtle writer who achieves her powerful and poignant effects by stealth rather than direct action.” —Salon
“Anita Desai is one of the most brilliant and subtle writers ever to have described the meeting of eastern and western culture.” —Alison Lurie
“A superb observer of the human race, achieving coloratura runs where most writers would have managed only a gasp or a gape. Like all serious novelists she puts her best energy into fingering the texture of someone's life, getting a few solid answers to the incessant question ''What is it like to be them?'' She reminds us of how tractable real-life people are, at least when compared with characters in fiction. She reminds us of how much guessing we have to do in order to stay in touch.” —The New York Times
“Desai writes powerfully and provocatively about family and tradition, men and women, marriage and motherhood…there’s a gothic sense of mystery and suspense…Thrice shortlisted for the Booker prize, she is known for the effortless lyricism of her sentences, the deceptive simplicity of her stories, and her canny eye for detail…not many people expected new fiction from the 87-year-old. But Rosarita, I am pleased to say, is a transcendent late gift: both a testament to Desai’s enduring genius as a writer and a wholly remarkable vindication of literature’s power to illuminate the conundrums of human experience. This is a novel of profound philosophical inquiry, pondering the enigmas of the mind and the self, the frontiers of fantasy and reality, and ultimately, whether one person can ever fully imagine and understand the life of another.” —The Guardian (UK)
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): Rosarita Hardcover 9781668082430
- Author Photo (jpg): Anita Desai Photography by Beowulf Sheehan(0.1 MB)
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