Reading this book is not for the weak of heart—get ready for an emotionally charged story that unwinds through peaks and valleys of chaos, tragedy and a sense of raw humanity. Through the lives of four key characters (two tailors, a widow and a student), the reader gets a glimpse of life during a fascinating time in India’s history known as the “Special Internal Emergency.” It is during this period of 1975-77 when the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called for a suspension of civil liberties. From such different backgrounds, the main characters find themselves eventually living not only in the same house, but also as witnesses of the other’s struggles and unjust circumstances….its all in there: from castration, fatal accidents, graphic suicides, forced vasectomies, hanging, lynching, slave labor, starvation, broken limbs, extortion and more.
If there is one thing this book shouts, it is “life is not fair.”
Ishvar nodded. ''And are the two children happy without Monkey-Man?'' Beggarmaster flipped his unchained hand in a who-knows gesture. ''They will have to get used to it. Life does not guarantee happiness''. -A Fine Balance, 542
Some people have described this book as depicting a fine balance between hope and despair; I think it is more like a fine balance between perseverance and surrender. As the characters’ distrust of each other evolves ultimately into love, the reader can see how much we as humans depend on each other for that perseverance.
For as sad as it is, the book was very well written and I would recommend it.
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