Ambai, one of the finest modern Tamil short-story writers, is much read, discussed and written about, and loved for the wit, innovative story-telling, and lyrical grace of her writing.

Breaking traditional modes of expression in terms of language and content, In a Forest, a Deer recounts the saga of Tangam Athai, whose husband remarried because she could not bear him a child and Chinthiru's journey to the forest alongside the mythological tale of Sita's exile to underscore Chinthiru's unique search for self-identity. Winner of the Hutch Crossword Book Award 2006, this collection is an enduring testimony of the ideology and belief that Ambai's writings affirm-the need to know and be in touch with a stable or 'grounded' self that allows fluidity and change in modern times of travel, dislocation, and exile.