Desai juxtaposes two main settings in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard to play off the ordinary and magical elements of her characters' lives. At the same time, the author intertwines the elements of setting and character in such a way that the two interact and animate one another.

The story begins in the city of Shahkot, in India. From the start, the town embodies the hearts of the people: it is high summer, and the town is suffering from the longest drought in recent history. Against the backdrop of the drought's "murky yellow haze," Kulfi Chawla, a young woman of twentyone years, is heavy with child. As her pregnancy advances, the drought grows worse; as the famine spreads, Kulfi's hunger becomes increasingly ravenous. Desai intertwines the setting and the characters right from the start of the novel, as displayed by her depiction of Kulfi's pregnancy: "Kulfi, in these...