Lahiri lives with her husband and two children in Brooklyn. Her life, she said, consists of trying to find a balance, day by day.

"On a typical day my baby sitter comes and gives me the better part of the day to sort of organize as I wish. For my own writing. Or just to cook meals for my kids. Or pick one of them up from school if I need to."

She has had the same baby sitter for nearly six years, since her oldest son was tiny. "Having her in our lives has really been essential," Lahiri said. "Without her, I wouldn't have written one word of the book."

Lahiri is beginning work on a new novel now.

"It is hard and disappointing when you realize something you thought was going in a certain direction is actually the wrong direction. But that is the nature of writing and the creative process.

"You have to discover what you can do to the inspiration and just follow it until it either rewards you in work that is whole and complete — or maybe you have to set it aside."

And if you set it aside, there is nothing to prevent you from picking it up again later, she said. "Unaccustomed Earth" is full of stories that Lahiri had set aside, some for as many as 10 years, before picking them up again and allowing them to unfold in a new way.

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E-mail: susan@desnews.com