Devika Bai has a wonderful eye for detail

– Rani Manicka, author of 'The Rice Mother' (winner of the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize)

This may be author D. Devika Bai's debut novel but with The Flight of the Swans, she has firmly marked for herself a place in the Malaysian literary scene. Last week, her book was at No. 5 on the MPH Bestseller List ? Devika has that certain style that swallows us straight into the book. She paints a vivid description of the battlefield scene, enveloping us with the cries of wounded men, sounds of rifle fire and exploding cannons. Devika spins the captivating tale so well that at times I found it hard to put the book down, often bargaining with myself for another two more pages at the breakfast table before I leave for the office ? She leads us on a journey of loyalty, romance, family conflict, social injustice and dreams. As the tale unravels, we follow the fortunes of the Bhonsles from the royal household of the Rani and the Killa battlefield to a humble village of farmers and finally to the British colony of Georgetown, Penang; we grow with the family, living their lives and feeling the passions of sons Nilkanth, an irascible gangster, and Madhav, the romantic dreamer. Both want the same girl, Tara Bai, the most beautiful courtesan in the land. We also get an exotic view of British Penang where Mukta's eyes open wide with childlike wonder to see the British, Indians, Chinese and Malays living side by side; we are filled with hope and pray for the cheerful Arundhati, the blind granddaughter, so she may be able to see some day. The book provides an insight into the Mahrattas - a fiercely independent but clannish people from west-central India who were mostly warriors and farmers. That in the book Killa Fort was ruled by a Rani comes as no surprise as it was the Mahrattas who preached human equality and crushed the Indian caste system. But Devika still has one twist to the tale, one that sees me wiping away a tear at the very end.

– New Straits Times (Malaysia), July 29, 2005

The Flight of the Swans contains a lot of historial, cultural and religious details.

– The Sun (Malaysia), July 20, 2005

New voice of Malaysian fiction ? Bai's debut novel is original in that she has woven Indian and Malaysian history together through the trials and tribulations of the Bhonsle clan. Asian tales of migration to the "West" and the attendant struggles with cultural differences are slowly becoming a dime a dozen. But how many of us have read a novel recently which takes us on the migratory journeys within Asia? Probably very few.

– TODAY newspaper (Singapore), July 28, 2005

With her debut novel, 59-year-old Devika has shown that it's never too late to become a published author and one who is masterful at the art of unfurling tales with strong characters against the backdrop of rich historical fact and delicious fiction.

– Radio Singapore International, August 11, 2005