description: In the India of the mid-1970s, Indira Gandhi's government has just come to power. It institutionalizes corruption and arbitrary force, most oppressive to the poorest and weakest people under its sway. Against this backdrop, in an unnamed city by the sea, four people struggle to survive. Dina, Maneck, and two tailors, the Untouchables Om and Ishvar, who are sewing in Dina's service, undergo a series of reversals, punctuated only by small mocking advances, that start them on a trajectory towards unhappiness and despair. Yet, in choosing what they will do, they exhibit a basic dignity and humanity that belies their mistreatment as part of the underclass. By merely surviving until their load becomes unbearable, and then living on past that point, they have accomplished something.
language: English
title: A Fine Balance
titlecomplete: A Fine Balance
characters: Omprakash Darji, Beggar Master, Vasantrao Valmik, Nusswan Shroff, Maneck Kohlah, Rustom Dalal, Thakur Dharamsi, Ishvar Darji, Ashraf Chacha, Shankar, Rajaram, Dina Dalal
genres: Asia, Canada, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels, Indian Literature, Literature, India, Fiction
ratings_count: 146481
places: India, Mumbai, South Asia, Bombay
awards: awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Scotiabank Giller Prize, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best Book Overall, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: CBC Canada Reads, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Dublin Literary Award
category: Shortlist
publisher: Books on Tape