Review of 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy

I don't read a lot of literary fiction, so The God of Small Things is a little outside of my comfort zone, but I'm glad I read it. This year I'm trying to read more books in translation, and more books that aren't written by English authors and this was a good one to go for. Winner of the 1997 Booker Prize, there has been a lot of critical acclaim for this over the 20 plus years since publication.

Set in Kerala in south India, The God of Small Things moves back and forwards in time telling the story of how lives can be completely disrupted and derailed with a single small action. Rahel and Esthappen are twins who are separated when some disastrous event occurs that is hinted at throughout most of the book before we finally understand what happens towards the end. The book is partly told from Rahel's perspective, both in the lead up to the incident, and roughly 25 years later when the twins are finally reunited. The twins' family is not a perfect one, and they are battling with the idea of love, familial ties, the caste system they form a part of and separation throughout the book.

The book really focuses on class relations in India during the period the book is set in and the politics and culture surrounding these through the lens of this family. Class status affects everything that happens: it leads to secrets, forbidden actions, differences in speech and approach to different people. I felt that keeping the reason for the twins' separation a secret until late on in the book added a bit more tension that the book really needed.

I am going to add a trigger warning for this one for child sexual assault. The scene was a really poignant moment in the book - another small action by Esthappen in leaving the cinema when he did leading to a bigger even that has a massive impact on his life. It's one of the few books I've read that's dealt with sexual assault against a male child and how the dynamics and impact of that can be slightly different than for a female child. It was quite graphic, so I felt this really needed a big trigger warning.

I gave this four stars and would recommend it if you enjoyed The Kite Runner as they're a little similar in showing the impacts small decisions can have on your entire life as well as other peoples'.

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