Literary jewels in the crown

A couple wait at the airport. The man is Indian by birth but has long since been absorbed into the culture of his partner, a Canadian, now pregnant with their first child. Together they watch the arrival of the man's elderly mother and aunt. They are sisters; and together they raised Rakesh in an arrangement which saw his aunt become his mother, while his mother reverted to the position of interested onlooker. They are dressed in "wisps of widows' white clothing . . . slippers flapping at their feet". Rakesh is embarrassed by them, but his practical wife, having digested the fact that he really does have two mothers, is "unexpectedly moved".

She brings them shopping to fit them out with heavy winter clothes. They refuse to wear shoes, remaining loyal to their sandals, albeit now worn with thick socks. "Under it all, their white cotton kameezes hung out like rags of their past, sadly." "Winterscape" is about loyalty, domestic tensions and cultural contrasts.

Such juxtaposing of cultures is a favourite Desai theme and it features in several of these fine stories. Diamond Dust is also a diverse collection, reflecting Desai's understanding of Indian, British and North American sensibilities. It is a worthy successor to Fasting, Feasting, another delicate study of culture in conflict, which was officially, and unusually, proclaimed the second-placed runner-up to JM Coetzee's Disgrace at last year's Booker Prize. Desai is a quiet writer of perception and robustly subtle insight, her prose is elegant and understated, her wit precise.

The superb closing story, "The Rooftop Dwellers", charts the journey towards independence and freedom undertaken by Moyna, a likeable young woman who arrives in the city to establish her own life. In an often hilarious narrative highlighting the plight of women in the new India still shaped by tradition, Desai sustains her characteristic tone of sympathetic detachment.

Contemporary Indian fiction writers are among the finest in the world, and Desai at her best, as she is throughout this collection, has deservedly won her place alongside them.

Eileen Battersby is Literary Correspondent of The Irish Times