True first UK edition, 1997 Hardcover/dust jacket, pages have yellowed and there is a small rectangular piece of the half title page missing (name removed?). The bottom edge of the hardcover shows minor shelf wear. Otherwise good condition with an unclipped dust jacket. Published before the author was awarded the Book Prize.

More magical than Mistry, more of a rollicking good read than Rushdie, more nerve-tinglingly imagined than Naipaul, here, perhaps, is the greatest Indian novel by a woman. Arundhati Roy has written an astonishingly rich, fertile novel, teeming with life, colour, heart-stopping language, wry comedy and a hint of magical realism.

Set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, Southern India, The God of Small Things tells the story of twins Esthappen and Rahel. Amongst the vats of banana jam and heaps of peppercorns in their grandmother's factory, they try to craft a childhood for themselves amidst what constitutes their family their lonely, lovely mother, their beloved Uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist and bottom-pincher) and their avowed enemy Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grand-aunt).

Publisher: Flamingo/Imprint HarperCollins

Year: 1997, First Edition/1st Printing

Condition: Good blue cloth hardcover, slightly rubbed on the bottom edge. The dust jacket is not price clipped but has tape on the underside. Piece missing on half-title page. (Please see photos).

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Hardcover/Dust Jacket, 1st Edition/1st Print)