About the Book: Fasting, Feasting is a Booker Prize-shortlisted novel by Anita Desai that explores family expectations, cultural differences, and the complexities of human relationships across India and America. The story follows Uma, an unmarried daughter whose life is shaped by her controlling parents and traditional responsibilities, while her siblings pursue very different paths. Her sister Aruna achieves social success through marriage, and her brother Arun experiences the freedoms and contradictions of American life. Through parallel narratives, the novel examines gender roles, identity, desire, and the ways families influence individual choices and destinies.