“Offers such magic, mystery and sadness that, literally, this reader turned the last page and decided to reread it. Immediately. It’s that hauntingly wonderful”
Arundhati Roy conjures a whoosh of wordplay that rises from the pages like a brilliant jazz improvisation. The God of Small Things is nominally the story of young twins Rahel and Estha and the rest of their family, but the book feels like a million stories spinning out indefinitely. The God of Small Things is at once exotic and familiar to the Western reader, written in an English that’s completely new and invigorated by the Asian Indian influences of culture and language.
A review on the back of this book describes Roy’s story like an onion being peeled. This is an apt description — page by page, more of the complex family dynamic is revealed. Like an onion, there are scenes and events that are enough to make your eyes water; however, it does carry a powerful message of love and acceptance. It is a riveting read, and I would recommend it with a disclaimer — this is not a Christian novel, and is not for the faint of heart.