Born from two eggs in the one womb of their beloved mother Ammu, Rahel and Esthappen have little to cling to but each other, and the occasional joy that passes through their young lives like a cool breeze on a sweltering Indian day.When Ammu, divorced and disappointed, returns with the twins to her family home in southern India, their worlds begin to open wider, all the while closing in on them.

As the three arrive into the arms of Ammu's eccentric and unforgettable relatives, a tragedy begins to unfold that will propel them toward a fate that has perhaps stalked them from their inception. Yet, throughout the pain and hardships of things large and small, the humor, humanity, and ferociously perceptive intelligence only bestowed upon seven-year-olds shines gloriously through.

At the core of this extraordinary, bittersweet story is the unforgettable narrative voice of first-time novelist Arundhati Roy, a uniquely talented writer capable of moving us beyond words with the perfect sentence and a profoundly insightful wisdom that far surpasses her years.