With dreamy prose infused with vivid images and a keen insight into human nature, Arundhati Roy’s debut novel twists and reshapes the language to portray an artistic and a highly stylized form of writing .” The god of small things “ unfolds the secrets of a semi fractured family in Kerala. The story begins with the funeral of the young Sophie Mol, the cousin of the protagonist, Rahael, and her fraternal twin brother Eshtha. In a suspenseful narrative, Roy reveals the tragedy struck encompassing the political scenarios, social taboos, and the old system that was rattled by communism in the 1960s. Roy’s power of description is unnerving, sometimes drifting towards overwriting to an extent that every detail is forced to symbolize something bigger. While there are just a few lapses her capacity for similes and metaphors is a treasure. “Strange insects appeared like ideas in the evening”. The natural flow of words, “Christianity arrived in a boat and seeped into Kerala like tea from a teabag” is remarkable. The average reader might struggle with cracking Roy’s prose but those with a flair will cherish her style of writing. She has beautifully explored how little things can affect different lives in myriad ways.

-Review by Aarti Bansal