It took some time for me to finish this novel but I think the time I gave to this was worth it. Reading this masterpiece made me realise that Arundhati Roy is an extremely talented writer. Her love for similes was apparent from the writing. The novel is structured to switch between past and future seamlessly. The bits of past and future are scattered throughout the novel for the reader to pick and complete the story like a puzzle.

The story is tragic yet beautiful. The story itself will not take much time to tell, but the writer has explained scenery, places, people meticulously. Her way of writing completely captivated my attention. The story moves like a slow, melancholic song with hilarious bits spread here and there. Even after turning the last page, I still could not part with it.

The story is about a prominent Syrian Christian family in Kerala, India. Specially about the dizygotic twins in the family (Estha and Rachel) and how one tragedy affected their lives, rather destroyed it. Innocent childhood completely taken away from them. The tragedy also affected the lives of people whom the twins loved dearly. Everyone involved carried the heavy weight by the trauma for remainder of their lives, but some were blamed and judged unfairly. The writer also highlighted the discrimination faced by some due to religion, cast and colour. I marvelled at the way the writer explained the psychology behind actions taken by characters. My heart felt heavy at the unfair treatment some received. The story is fictional but the pain described felt real.