Arundhati Roy’s debut novel, The Good of Small Things, was a bestseller in 21 countries and the winner of the 1997 Man Booker Prize for Fiction—making Roy the first Indian woman to win the award.
The novel tells the story of twins Rahel and Estha and their tragic childhood and adult experiences with the Indian caste system, Marxism, love, and death.
The story takes place in the southern province of Kerala, India, and follows a nonlinear plot, shifting between time and childhood and adult perspectives of the characters.
The God of Small Things received glowing reviews worldwide, but it was also criticized by some in the United Kingdom as well as in India, where claims of obscenity were made against it.
