Xavier made her literary debut with The Salt Harvest (2008), a moving tale of a Kerala fishing family confronting modernization, which earned the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Her second novel, Monsoon Letters (2012), an epistolary story spanning three generations of women, cemented her literary reputation. In 2016, she published The Cartographer's Daughter, a richly detailed historical novel set during the twilight of the colonial era, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her most recent work, Where Rivers Remember (2021), returns to her signature themes of homeland, loss, and reconciliation.
Beyond fiction, Xavier contributes essays to leading literary journals and mentors emerging writers through international creative workshops. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages, establishing her as one of the most distinctive and influential voices in contemporary world literature.