His other notable and massive work is Apsara, essays divided in five volumes which is based on the life of prostitutes.

Desai was born on 12 May 1892 in Sinor, a village located on the bank of Narmada river to Vasantlal and Manibai.

Desai studied until sixth standard at his uncle's home in Shinor and then moved to Vadodara in 1902 and was admitted in the Branch School.

He wrote a play entitled Samyukta which was staged at Gujarati Sahitya Parishad held at Surat in 1915.

He joined Shri Sayaji High School as a teacher, and few months later, in November 1916, he was appointed the head clerk in the Baroda State, where he later held various positions before retiring in 1948.

He has also written short stories, plays, poems, character-sketches, travelogues, historical essays, literary criticism and autobiography.

The second group of 12 novels deals with the social life of Gujarat and the ideas and activities of Mahatma Gandhi.

After G. M. Tripathi, Desai was the first Gujarati novelist who wrote his novels with historical events that shaped the contemporary milieu.

1‐2 (1943, 1949), Kalbhoj (1950), Shauryatarpan (1951), Balajogan (1952) and Shachi Pulomi (1954), among which Bharelo Agni, is considered to be Desai's magnum opus, dealing with the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

1-4, 1933-1937) are considered as his major novels which deal with Gandhian themes like Indian freedom movement, the removal of untouchability, the uplift of woman, the reconstruction of rural India, the Swadeshi Movement, non-violent resistance and other things which Gandhi had preached and practised.

His novel Divyachakshu (1932) presents the documentary picture of the days of freedom struggle with the backdrop of triangular love story.

His other social novels are Sirisha (1927), Hridayanatha (1930), Bamsari (1933), Patralalasa (1934), Snehayajna (1931), Sobhana (1939) and Hridayavibhuti (1940).

[6] During the later years of his life, Desai moved towards Marxism and wrote novels based on it like Chhayanat (1941), Jhanjhavat Vol.

[11] Desai's novels Kokila, Divya Chakshu and some other books were translated into Hindi, Marathi and in other Indian languages.

[3][12] Vishwanath Bhatt, a Gujarati critic, considered Desai as the 'Yugamoorti Vartakar' (the novelist who reflects an age).