It was a coup not just for her but for an emerging genre of Indian writing in English that is quite different from the one represented by Rushdie. The gap stems from the fact that Roy is a home-grown Indian who is inspired by local folk idioms, whereas Rushdie is a British citizen who looks to the West for inspiration. She has written in an Indian style and been recognized. When Roy's 340-page novel appeared in Western bookstores in May, critics found its prose so original and vivid that they compared her to William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Available in 30 countries, the book has sold about 900,000 copies.
Small Things depicts an India torn by conflicts of caste and politics.
As the tale unfolds, the lives of the twins are shattered by the divorce of their Christian mother, Ammu. The god of small things can be seen as a symbol of social propriety. Roy's story mirrors her own life. The second of two children, she grew up in similar circumstances to the twins in her book. Like Ammu, her mother is a Kerala Christian who got divorced when Roy was a toddler.