The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

This is a fascinating novel.  It centers around two twins, Rahel, the sister, Estha the brother, their dysfunctional family and the repressive society that they live in.  The story unfolds in two time periods, the present, when the twins are 31 years old, and in 1969 when the twins were 7 years old and tragic events occur which transform their lives and propel them into wounded adulthood.
The characters are complex, the main villain, Baby Kochamma, the aunt of the twin's mother, is a bully, but also  the victim of mistreatment herself.  None of the characters escapes the small things that together bring ruin, but they are all defined by their own experience of lost opportunity, personal endurance, and love.