Product Description
With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers--a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village--will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future.

As the characters move from distrust to friendship and from friendship to love, A Fine Balance creates an enduring panorama of the human spirit in an inhuman state. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (617)

A disappointment
Just finished reading this book; while well-written, it has only made me hate the entire country of India and humanity in general. The theme of the book is that "everything ends badly" and this book was no exception.

Very difficult reading, but worth it
A friend gave me this book in the middle of winter, right after I had scheduled a trip to visit India for the first time. I looked at the Amazon reviews and saw things like "most depressing book I've ever read" and decided that the middle of a bleak winter was not the right time to be reading such a book. I put it off until another respected friend saw it on my shelf and said "You HAVE to read this before going to India!" So I picked it up and started reading. It is BY FAR the most depressing book I've ever read. I wondered how it could have gotten so many good review on Amazon because they are times when it feels gratuitously laden with misfortune. I almost put it down several times because it was just more than I could bear, but at the point that it would all become too much, there would be a little bit of wisdom or joy amongst the characters that would encourage me to continue on with the story. The final page captures the whole book beautifully, but you really have to just keep slogging through all the misery to get to that last page. You will be rewarded. It's a beautiful book.

The book is never dull. The characters are very real. It is a glimpse into a period of India's history that I knew nothing about. In many ways, it is a very easy-to-read book. But strap yourself in because it is a bumpy ride.

Too depressing for me, but excellent writing
I like to be uplifted from books and this one was brutal in its portrayal of low caste Indians, though it may be telling it like it is. The writer is extraoridinalirly gifted and very creative as a weaver of tales. I kept hoping the characters would get a break, to no avail. This book would be a good one to use in prison to teach compassion or for everyday people who are lacking in that area. I noticed-- one reviewer wrote of becoming enlightened to human seffering from reading the book. I'm already a bleeding heart though.

Lends Dignity
... depth & layers to unravel even to the most "ordinary" of lives and people.Even the most minor of all characters, such as the woman selling groceries on the railway station to the couple that hosts the tailors upon their arrival to the city, are brilliantly portrayed.

Not a fine balance
I agree with the overwhelming consensus that this is a beautifully, masterfully written book. And I understand that it's an expose at it's heart. And I read it thoroughly and gave it my full attention, but I have one big glaring complaint: it's unrealistic. Really? All of that to those 2 people? Really? Really? Om and Ishvar are all of the poorest, most wretched of Dicken's characters rolled into 2 and never redeemed. For me, it would have had a bigger impact and a richer reception if he had spread the tragedies out a bit (or even just let up a some on the molten metals poured into ears, the deforming of children, the bodies trampled by cars and trains, the hangings and finger nail extractions). I don't need a happy ending, but I'm more revolted right now than transformed. ... Read more

Product Description
Firozsha Baag is an apartment building in Bombay. Its ceilings need plastering and some of the toilets leak appallingly, but its residents are far from desperate, though sometimes contentious and unforgiving. In these witty, poignant stories, Mistry charts the intersecting lives of Firozsha Baag, yielding a delightful collective portrait of a middle-class Indian community poised between the old ways and the new.

"A fine collection...the volume is informed by a tone of gentle compassion for seemingly insignificant lives."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

His novels are better than the short stories
His novels are wonderful..the short stories not quite as good.I'm looking forward to his next full-length book.

Easy read and thoroughly enjoyable!
The book has short, enjoyable stories that are remarkably descriptive.I grew up in Bombay, grew up with Zoroastrian friends and can relate to some of the stories.They're funny and deep.I'd highly recommend the book.

This is the one
I am in the process of answering a questionnaire asking, if I could recommend one book to someone to read, what book would it be?

I came on this site to check the spelling of the full name of this book.

I love this book.

Early Jewels in Mistry's Crown
"Swimming Lessons", a short story collection, may be Mistry's earliest published work. He of course wrote the awesome "A Fine Balance", a panoramic look at life in India circa 1975. "Lessons" is set in about the same time period and chronicles the life experiences of middle-class Indians from a particular apartment complex. Major characters in one story show up as minor characters in other stories, giving the book a novelistic feel. Emigration, experienced directly by Mistry in his early 20's as he moved to Canada, is a major theme of the book. The story "Squatters", contains a "story inside the story" that affect your thinking about the trials of emigration (as it relates to bodily functions) for a long time. Those who know Mistry will enjoy this look at his early writing. Newcomers to Mistry might enjoy the short story form as an intro before tackling the epic "A Fine Balance."

CLASSY WORK OF A MINIATURIST, HARDLY READS LIKE A DEBUT!
And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. Hisprecise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.

Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life.

Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc.

Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms.

The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literaturegreat. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools."

Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut. ... Read more

Product Description
Rohinton Mistry’s enthralling novel is at once a domestic drama and an intently observed portrait of present-day Bombay in all its vitality and corruption. At the age of seventy-nine,Nariman Vakeel, already suffering from Parkinson’s disease, breaks an ankle and finds himself wholly dependent on his family. His step-children, Coomy and Jal,have a spacious apartment (in the inaptly named Chateau Felicity), but are too squeamish and resentful to tend to his physical needs.

Nariman must now turn to his younger daughter, Roxana, her husband, Yezad, and their two sons, who share a small, crowded home. Their decision will test not only their material resources but, in surprising ways, all their tolerance, compassion, integrity, and faith. Sweeping and intimate, tragic and mirthful, Family Matters is a work of enormous emotional power.Amazon.com Review
Set during the 1990s in an overcrowded and politically corrupt Bombay, Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters depicts a family being torn apart by lies, love, and its unresolved demons of the past.Nariman Vakeel is an aging patriarch whose advancing Parkinson's disease and its related complications threaten to destroy his large Parsi family. When Nariman breaks his ankle and becomes bedridden, his two stepchildren turn his care over to their half-sister, Roxanne, who lives in a two-room flat with her husband and two sons.What follows is each character's reaction to this situation, from Roxanne's husband's struggle to provide for his family without neglecting his conscience to their sons' coming of age in an era of uncertainty.Expertly interspersed between these dilemmas are Nariman's tortured remembrances of a forbidden love and its inescapable consequences ("no matter where you go in the world, there is only one story: of youth, and loss, and yearning for redemption.So we tell the same story, over and over.Just the details are different").

Family Matters is a compelling, emotional, and persuasive testimony to the importance of memories in every family's history.In a poetic style rich with detail, Mistry creates a world where fate dances with free will, and the results are often more familiar than anyone would ever care to admit. --Gisele Toueg ... Read more

Customer Reviews (68)

Excellent
This book is about family relationships, with all their complexities and frailties and strengths that extend beyond time.A family in crisis is the focal point, with the ailing father as the central figure.All members are going through a personal journey, facing hopes that may never be realized and the fears that go along with such revelation. How strong should be our commitment to one another as a family?What is "fair" in such a situation?Should this word even be brought into the discussion?This book will help you to reason that out.I am in a similar situation myself and this book made me think more clearly.

Recommended for tweens to adults.

We all have family matters
I enjoyed this book about Roxana and her family as they care for her aging father, Nariman.Mistry's strengths are his crystal clear prose and also his well drawn characters.With some, but not too much, emphasis on the poor living conditions, religious practices, and the government of India, the book moves along at a nice pace.Although we meet Nariman at the end of his life, his story is told through flashbacks as he recovers from a broken ankle.Yezad, Roxana's husband, is also a main character who struggles with his job, his religion, and with providing for his family.The secondary characters of Roxana and her two sons and her step-brother and step-sister are also nicely developed.The book is about family matters that we all have: aging parents, financial worries, problems with children, and relatives who make bad decisions.A nicely told story by a wonderful writer.

A satsifying read
It's interesting how so any compare this book to 'A Fine Balance' whileneglecting 'Such a Long Journey,' Mistry's first novel with which it resonates strongly. Mistry excels in giving us a glimpse not just into family life in India, but more specifically into Parsi family life in Bombay. Its these details of a small and disappearing subculture if you will, that I find most fascinating. Many have written to say that the characters seem exaggerated or unrealistic-I assure you they are not. They might not all be in one family, but at the end of the day, Mistry's writing a work of fiction, so its natural that the book would be dense with the absurdities of Indian life, both modern and traditional.Rohinton captures the very 'Indianess' of his characters, whether Parsis, Muslims, or Hindus that someone from outside the culture may not fully get. Nevertheless, far from making the book inaccessible, he's provided an opportunity few would have personally, giving readers a chance to witness the very specific travails of a struggling Parsi family, and yet speak to universal themes that all families have to face, through the post-colonial lens.

Family Matters
Rohinton Mistry's FAMILY MATTERS is the story of differing attitudes toward caring for the grandfather of the family. The more affluent household is repelled by the everyday requirements of taking care of an entirely bedbound elder. The less affluent household is more flexible and creative, and winds up helping grandfather through the rest of his life.

Work and young children are important parts of the family equation. The struggle to get more money in an established clerk's job winds up indirectly causing the death of his long-standing employer. There is a lot of amibiguity in the circumstances surrounding the death of the sporting shop owner at the hands of a militant Hindu association.

A fatal accident kills grandfather's stepdaughter, thereby freeing the other members of the family to combine resources and residences. A happy ending is the result.

Not upto expectations!
Having read Fine Balance, I was looking forward to reading Family Matters. However, my expectations were short lived.
After reading the book I was leftwondering what was the point of the entire book ! (apart from being a waste of time)
The main characters were not developed thoroughly..they were far from realistic. The less sad the better about the numerous side characters! The manner in which Yezad set up his boss was ridiculous, Coomy and Jal destroying their own apartment was even worse, and I did not know whether to laugh, cry or throw the book out whenever I read about the "handyman". The cause of Coomys death was again ridiculous. The author has delved into too many details about parsis and zorastrism which made the book even more boring.

Am glad I read this book after Fine Balance! Wonder if I should bother reading "Such a long journey"

The only conclusion I have reached is... just because you liked one book by an author, do not have the same expectations as you will definitely be disappointed.

... Read more

Product Description
A moving domestic tragi-comedy that introduces readers to Gustad Noble, a devout Parsi and dedicated family man, who becomes enmeshed in the corruption of the Indira Gandhi years. His journey back to himself manages to be comical and heartbreaking, deeply compassionate and unsparing.Amazon.com Review
Mistry does something that only the really natural writers cando: without apparent effort, manipulation or contrivance, he createscharacters you like instantly and will gladly follow for as long asthe novel leads. The book is about an Indian family during the yearsof Indira Ganhdi's rule; it's also a study of the times, its politicsand corruption, and was especially interesting for me, who knows solittle about life in the rest of the world. It had to be a good book:after I read Such a Long Journey, I wanted to go right out andbuy a plane ticket and see India for myself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Great first novel
This book was Mistry's first novel, but reading through it, one does not get that impression, as the novel is amazingly powerful and gripping - with great attention to detail. Mistry develops the story around an ordinary man and his family - and uses his background to paint such a fine picture that the reader would find themselves knowing the characters intimately.

The story revolves around a Parsi named Gustad Noble, who lives with his family in a Parsi dominated building in Bombay. There are supporting characters, who go in and out of Gustad's life, but the key is that there are several icons in the novel, including Gustad's obsession with covering his windows with black paper, the lame Tehmul, the outside black wall of their building and the tree in the courtyard. Each of these is given enough attention that they stay sharp in the background while the story is unfolding. The idiosyncrasies of the residents of the building, as well as the description of the world beyond the black wall is gripping.

The climax of the novel is well put together, where all the surviving cast of characters congregate at the black wall, surrounded by destruction and death - and the symbolic cutting down of the tree.

Not a light-hearted novel, but it'll be hard to put it down once you start.

Raj Bhandari

Social commentary, conflicting loyalities and a unique historical perspective, all brought to life with a comic touch.
From the moment I started reading this 1991 prize winning novel by this celebrated Indian-born Canadian author, I could not put it down and was immediately transported to 1971 Bombay, before it was re-named Mumbai.

The author is a genius at characterization and creates some of the most memorable characters I have ever met.The protagonist is a Gustad Noble, a bank clerk in his 50s who lives with his wife and three children in a slum-like apartment.Living conditions made me wince. Water had to be retrieved from a hose in his apartment and was available for only a short time each morning.There was a wall in front of the house upon which everyone relieved themselves, creating a swarm of constant mosquitoes.There were constant squabbles with the neighbors, and everyone took government corruption for granted.And yet, there was humor.The author has a way of making all of this quite comic and I found myself laughing out loud at times.

Gustad has his problems. His oldest son wins a place in a prestigious university and refuses to go, his second son has a crush on the daughter of a neighbor that Gustad detests, and his young daughter falls ill.Gustad's wife is a constant visitor to an old lady who believes in magical potions and a crippled mentally retarded boy who everyone tolerates keeps mixing up any instructions he is given.Gustad's family had once been affluent and he looks back on those happy times with bitter memories.

And then, Gustad hears from an old friend who makes a request of him.This throws him into a labyrinth of Indian politics under the leadership of Indira Ghandi that would have been horrendous to read about had it not been for the light touch of humor that the author displays throughout the entire novel.Gustad's loyalties are conflicted and I shared all this with him as he struggles with the challenges that this request entails.

I was intrigued.I couldn't stop reading.And I learned more about the social complexity in India, the religious conflicts between the various sects, the customs of the Parsi Zoratrians and the daily trials and tribulations of these very real imperfect human beings than I had ever imagined.

Mother India under the troubled rule of Mother Indira
Poor Gustad Noble, a Bombay bank clerk buffeted by mishap and miscreants. His son wants to major in the arts rather than attend tech school; his daughter, the family pet, is inexplicably ill; his neighbors range from hostile lunatics to superstitious crones; a bordering wall has become the local latrine; and the municipal government is threatening to reduce his apartment compound in order to widen a nearby road. And on top of all that, an old, close friend writes to him with a secretive and strange and (it turns out) dangerous mission that jeopardizes the relative tranquility of Gustad's soap-opera life.

But Gustad is, basically, a decent and well-meaning man, both boorishly stubborn and fussily honest--qualities that make him an easy mark and an unlikely leader. Caught up in a plot not of his own devising, he just wants what's best for his family--and, during his long journey he is helped by a mentally handicapped young man who falls in love with an oversized doll, a scandalously boisterous coworker whose loyalty and libido know no bounds, a painter with a penchant for religious iconography, and a patient wife who alternates between roles as the family referee and moral compass.

The novel, in short, is comic, melodramatic, and heartwarming, yet its sentimental trappings disguise an unexpected cynicism. Although Mistry's fictions does not overtly deal with the political scene, both this novel and "A Fine Balance" acidly satirize the corruption, policies, and legacy of Indira Gandhi's government (the two novels are set in the years between the 1971 state of war with Pakistan and the 1975 state of emergency called by Gandhi to quell internal dissent). All citizens are expected to make sacrifices for Mother India, although "some newspapers reported it as Mother Indira, which did not really matter--the line between the two was fast being blurred by the Prime Minister's far-sighted propagandists." The ever-present threats of war and emergency lead Gustad to leave his windows taped up with blackout paper for nearly a decade, the dust and insects accumulating on top of his wife's nerves and the nation's fears. Living in the dark, the Nobles and their friends are nothing less than India writ small, a microcosmic reflection of its squabbles and reconciliations, vices and values, calamities and hopes.

Such A Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry
This novel was given to me by my mom, who loved loved loved his novel "A Fine Balance," which I insisted she read. So taken was she that she bought three copies of "Such A Long Journey" in support of this great author. It took me longer to get into this book, Mistry's first novel, but it was very good. Mistry takes us to a middle class household in India during the days of Indira Ghandi's rule, and the climax of the book coincides with the war between India and Pakistan. I have to confess, I know very little about the history of these regions. I am learning more and more because I'm seeming to find myself lost within the pages of novels of India of late. Even the late Bhutto makes an appearance, through the news media, in this book.

Primarily, "Such A Long Journey" is the story of a family, and the community of friends that makes up the larger family of society. Through the eyes of the narrator, Gustad, we see an India of hope and prosperity -- the India in which he grew up -- and the India of the novel's time, when hope begins to waver and acceptance of the life that is takes root. I think, having now read two of Mistry's novels, his gift is showing us the joy that can be found in the small things, such as friendships, and understanding. I look forward to reading other of his books, as well.

A Well Crafted Read!
I very much enjoyed this novel set in India during the Indira Ghandi days. It primarily regards a family and their struggles and interactions with others and truly gives an illuminating picture of how things were then in India. Mistry crafts the characters extremely well.Albeit they may be flawed in ways, they are most interesting and one senses their humanity and understands their motivations. A very interesting story that I would very much recommend. I looked forward to reading it each day as it would draw me in and is a fascinating read. ... Read more

Product Description
In these eleven intersecting stories, Rohinton Mistry opens our eyes and our hearts to the rich, complex patterns of life inside this Bombay apartment building. The occupants - from Jaakaylee, the ghost-seer, through Najamai, the only owner of a refrigerator in Firozsha Baag, to Rustomji the Curmudgeon and Kersi, the young boy whose life threads through the book - all express the tensions between the past and the present, between the old world and the new. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Funny and Interesting
Of all the books by Rohinton Mistry, I liked this one the best because, it isn't as depressing as the others. Its a tale about the people of a Parsi Colony in Bombay, called Firozsha Baag; their experiences, triumphs and misfortunes. Characters such as Rustomji-the-cur, Nariman Hansotia and Jaykaylee the Aya (maid) are amusing and bring about a pleasant sense of deja-vu.
Being a Parsi myself, I couldn't stop laughing when Mistry depicted our "normal", rather idiotic behaviour. Strangely, a lot of old Parsi women (like Najamai in the book)complain about their cataracts!!
Mistry is a good author who dwells too deeply in the depressing aspects of life at times. But, then again, this is my personal opinion. If you would like to read about the reality of Parsis in Bombay...pick up Tales from Firozsha Baag.

Tales from Firozsha Baag is Swimming Lessons
This is a fine collection of early short stories, but note that it was reprinted in the U.S. as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag; so if you have one book, you don't need the other.

Tales from Firozsha Baag
This book is an excellent discussion on the human condition and its universal relevance. Rohinton Mistry weaves together the struggles of everyday life of an apartment complex in Bombay. As the book progresses, the universal problems of life becomes very clear...death, sorrow, poverty, superstition, and love. It describes the pertinence of existentialism in a quasi religious district.An excellent read for all those who wish to understand how human life progresses, and how it matters little where you live it. Touching and compassionate, and as historical fiction, a very compelling read! ... Read more

Product Description
Rohinton Mistry is arguably Canada’s most beloved and popular writer. His fiction has won prestigious prizes in Canada and around the world. The Oprah’s Book Club selection of his novel A Fine Balance increased Mistry’s already large audience in North America, and in Canada alone to more than a quarter of a million readers. He is working on a new novel, as yet unscheduled, but this delicious little book will be savoured by Mistry’s hungry and devoted fans. The Scream is a single story by Rohinton Mistry, to date his shortest book! And what a gem it is.
Set in a Bombay apartment, The Scream is narrated by a man at the end of his life, who is angry at the predicament of old age, at his isolation from his family and from a world that no longer understands him. He rails and raves in ways that are both hilarious and moving, and which touch us with recognition.

Printed originally in a limited edition of 150 copies that was sold exclusively by World Literacy of Canada as a fundraiser for their organization, The Scream was exquisitely produced and featured original artwork by the celebrated Canadian artist Tony Urquhart. This is the first trade edition of this treasure, which will retain beautiful production values as well as all of Tony Urquhart’s colourful, dynamic artwork, which was inspired by the story.

This gorgeous little book is a must-have for all of Rohinton Mistry’s fans, for their own shelves as a collector’s item and as the perfect gift. ... Read more

Product Description
The award-winning novelist Rohinton Mistry is recognized as one of the most important contemporary writers of postcolonial literature. This study--the first of its kind--will provide scholars and students with an insight into the key features of Mistry's work. Peter Morey suggests how the author's writing can be read in terms of recent Indian political history, his native Zoroastrian culture and ethos, conventions of oral storytelling common to Persia and South Asia, and the experience of migration. The texts are viewed through the lens of diaspora and minority discourse theories to show how Mistry's writing is illustrative of marginal positions in relation to sanctioned national identities.
... Read more

Product Description
Contemporary Indian Writers in English CIWE) is a series that presents critical commentaries on some of the best-known names in the genre. With the hgh visibility of Indian writing in Englihs in academic, critical, pedagogic and reader circles, there is a perceivable demand for lucid yet rigorous introductions to several of its authors and genres. Rohinton Mistry has provided some of the most sustained explorations of post-Independence Indian society through his chronicles of individual and community lives. Mistry's fiction covers many themes, from politics to Parsi community life and economic inequality to national 'events' such as wars, rigorously examining the impact of historical forces and social events on 'small' lives. Nandini Bhautoo-Dewnarain's study, a schematic introduction to Mistry's works, looks at the process of marginalization or 'Othering' in his fiction. Exploring Mistry's themes of tradition, ageing and families, Bhautoo-Dewnarain demonstrates how his fiction moves from the local to the universal. ... Read more

Product Description
Contributed articles on the works of Rohinton Mistry, b. 1952, Indian born Canadian author. ... Read more

Product Description
Arguing that globalization is no longer a term defining only international cash flow but also includes the flow and exchange of cultures, this book examines the works of three major Canadian writers of South Asian origin and born in three different parts of the world -- MG Vassanji, Neil Bissoondath, and Rohinton Mistry. To demonstrate the complex, textured identities of his authors of choice, Martin Genetsch shows that these and other writers not only negotiate their Canadian identities but also explore themselves in the cultures, histories, and geographical locations they come from. The result is a fine study of an important and defining aspect of Canadian literature. ... Read more

Product Description
Author Rohinton Mistry’s exceptional novel, A Fine Balance, is a saga written in the tradition of Tolstoy’s famous Anna Karenina.Indeed, Mistry has often been compared to storytellers like Tolstoy and Dickens. You'll explore this discussion and more in this detailed new guide for A Fine Balance, published by Bookclub-in-a-Box.

The scene is India, 1975, and Indira Gandhi has declared a State of Emergency in the country.Bookclub-in-a-Box takes readers deeper into the lives of four people who have each suffered great loss, but have come together to forge a home and a life together.Our guide uncovers the secrets of balance, which each character strives to achieve, in order to survive.The Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion companion balances the themes, character development, and historical background to give you great insight and pleasure from the reading of this fantastic novel.

This guide helps you:

- Understand the background to Indira Gandhi’s 1975 State of Emergency and its implications for the individual citizens of the country

- Appreciate the intricate balance of India’s caste system and the role of women in this culture

- Uncover the nuances of balance and boundaries as they pertain to the daily struggle of the characters

- Be inspired by the balance the characters find in their relationships with each other

- Be awed by the powerful narration by one of Canada’s finest authors

With this Bookclub-in-a-Box guide to A Fine Balance you are guaranteed to increase your delight in discussing and enjoying this Mistry classic.You will spark original thoughts and have meaningful conversation as you gain new insight into the complex layers of this riveting story.

Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide includes complete coverage of themes, symbols, writing style, as well as interesting and little known background information on the novel and the author.This Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide for A Fine Balance is no exception.

Let Bookclub-in-a-Box take you on a virtual tour of India! ... Read more