A Good Read

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 
This is a heart-rending story of a family whose choices lead to some terrible consequences, a family saga, a forbidden love story, and a political drama, beautifully written, slightly elaborate and disjointed which distracts somewhat from the plot. Normally I’m ok with switching timelines, but I did get confused at times and had to refer back, I forgot what it was the characters were talking about. 

The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, India, 7 year old fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family. Their lonely, lovely mother, Aammu fled an abusive marriage to live with their blind grandmother, Mammachi, their beloved uncle Chacko, and their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grand aunt). When Chacko's English ex-wife brings their daughter for a Christmas visit, the twins learn that “Things can change in a day”, a phrase that is repeated several times. It soon becomes clear that bad things are going to happen, the reader senses the foreboding.

As I was approaching the end of the book I kept thinking “it can’t end yet", I was expecting more explanation of what happened to Estha and Rahel. But then it clicked into place and although it wasn’t an ending with all the loose ends neatly tied up I did understand where their lives were going.

Although there is a lot of sadness it is nevertheless a beautiful well written story with immensely likeable characters. I thoroughly recommend it.

~Happy Reading ~

Polly x