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rimarily set in the town Ayemenem, in Kerala, The God of Small Things is a melancholic tale about the loss of childhood of two fraternal twins, Estha and Rahel. The narrative starts with thirty one year old Rahel returning to Ayemenem to reunite with her brother Estha, with whom she was separated at the age of seven. The story centres around the visit of their English cousin Sophie Mol. The visit overlaps with the love affair of Ammu, the twin’s divorced mother and Velutha, the family carpenter, an Untouchable in the society. Mostly written from the point of view of the children, the story switches in time between 1969 and present day India and evolves around the fateful drowning of Sophie Mol, intertwined with the forbidden love of Ammu with an Untouchable. Tricked by the twin’s grand aunt, the police assault Velutha, who succumbs to the savage injuries.After Sophie Mol’s funeral Estha is resent to their father. Gradually, he stops speaking altogether. Ammu is driven out of home and dies at the age of thirty one.Rahel is expelled from school, marries and separates. Years later, she returns to meet her brother who was re-returned to Ayemenem, at that age when their Ammu had died.AndThe book ends with the word Tomorrow, the eternal promise of love and hope.The God of Small Things is a nonlinear saga of loss and lamentation with focuses on caste system prevelant in the society, Communism and crevices inside the Syrian Christian family. Arundhati Roy, mesmerises the reader with her rich use of imagery and metaphors. She asks strange yet shocking questions to the reader, whereby Estha asks his mother,The author adds,This is a great book if you love beauty of strong language, rich use of words that appeal to all senses. In this book we meet Estha who began to look wiser than he really was.The grand aunt is described as a person whom Rahel thought asI believe only few other books can boast of such mighty expressions. However, this is not like other regular reads. The God of Small Things is a beautiful non linear narrative that has a language of its own in which the story gradually unfurls like peeling of onion skin. Go for it, if you can have some initial patience with the style. You can buy this book ator at, in case you live in India.