A Fine Balance cover art

A Fine Balance

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Fine Balance

By: Rohinton Mistry
Narrated by: Vikas Adam
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $55.99

Buy Now for $55.99

About this listen

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.

©1995 Rohinton Mistry (P)2018 Audible, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction South Asian Creators Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Friendship
All stars
Most relevant  
I listened to this book before traveling to India and it opened my eyes to the lives of everyday people and the impact of the caste system.

The novel tells the story of many seemingly different characters who are all victims of the society they live in.

A beautiful book that will leave you speechless for days to come!

Uplifting and heartbreaking. This beautiful book is a must read before traveling to India!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a wonderful book, educational, entertaining, very funny at times, but also a harrowing story of the injustice, brutality and greed in India at a particular time. I wanted it to never end.

More than a Novel an Experience

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Too too sad. Everytime there’s the tiniest bit of happiness, the story takes the saddest turn.

The characters

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this book years ago. I had forgotten so much of the details in the story, but not the gut retching agony of the beautiful written (and read) tale. Humans truly are exceptional beings, at both ends of the scale.

Still one of my favorite books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found the book interesting, realistic, well written and informative about the state of India at the time. It made me realise how lucky I am to live in a developed country with limited poverty and a strong rule of law. But, oh my goodness, what a sad book! All the characters for whom the reader develops strong sympathy end up in miserable circumstances!

Fascinating and informative…. But incredibly sad!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An horrific account of life in India. Beautifully narrated by Vikas Adam.
I encourage everyone to read/listen to this heartbreaking story. I must now read more of Rohinton Mistry’s work.

Heartbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Searing at times, saddening at others,
a Fine Balance exposes the fragility & frailty of individual humanity set against the inhumanity of layered corruption, damaging callous government policies and stultifying societal mores of India from Independence to the Eighties. Characters brought to life by prose and performance. A wonderful, worthwhile at times challenging book.

A powerful evocative quilt of stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I absolutely loved this book. It was beautiful the way all the characters were described and introduced. Sad in places but still presented with dignity. We got a very good picture of the political and social feel of the times.
Very well written.

Wonderful book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book showed me a history of an India I hadn't been able to grasp as a tourist. I've told all my friends who have been to india, are going to india or are Indian, to read it.

India

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The beautiful narration of this story made me get thru hard to listen parts of the story, it is a story of resilience, perseverance, and finding laughter despite all the pains. The ending was heartbreaking since I wanted it to be a good ending but it is probably the most realistic outcome.

Beautiful narration, powerful and moving story of 1970s India

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.