In Custody is very similar in tone and style to Anita Desai's other works, particularly her best-known books, the children's novel The Villiage by the Sea and Clear Light of Day. Although they have very different tones, they all deal with struggles in post-partition India, much like the characters in In Custody.
A film adaptation of In Custody was released in 1993, directed by Ismail Merchant of Merchant Ivory Productions. It stars Shashi Kapoor as Nur and Om Puri as Deven.
Other writers have also explored the tensions in post-partition India, most prominently Salman Rushdie and Jhumpa Lahiri.
