The God of Small Things

Hello book club members, new and seasoned!

This month, we're reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

Set at the end of the 1960s in rural Kerala, just two decades after India gained independence from Britain, The God of Small Things follows young fraternal twins, moving through life after a dramatic event rattles their affluent family unit. The book covers a lot of ground, capturing stories of childhood, the caste system, and a fight for forbidden love, all while critiquing India's rigid societal structures that aren't entirely gone from the country today.

Despite being Roy's debut novel, the book received many rave reviews when it was originally released in 1997 and even won the 1997 Booker Prize. However, it was not universally beloved. The book has been polarizing among readers, and in India specifically, the open discussions of sex were denounced as obscene. It has also received backlash for its unrelenting social commentary, but that has not stopped Roy from speaking out against social injustices across South Asia, both in her work and as an activist.

I'm excited for this one! Chat soon :)