The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy [1997]

The seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel see their world shaken irrevokably by the arrival of their beautiful young cousin. It is an event that will lead to an illicit liaison and tragedies accidental and intentional, exposing "big things [that] lurk unsaid" in a country drifting dangerously toward unrest. Lush, lyrical, and unnerving, The God of Small Things is an award-winning landmark that started for its author an esteemed career of fiction and political commentary that continues unabated.