A Fine Balance is a fine read so far

After having this on my bookshelf before and not reading it, I have finally cracked the spine of A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and I am so glad I am. It is, as a few people have told me, a suprisingly quick read despite its size. I managed to devour more than the first hundred pages the first morning I had the book in my possession. I have heard some mixed comments about this book and am interested in hearing from people about how they feel about this book - without spoilers please as I am just about a 1/3 into the book. So far there seems to be an interesting divide by gender. From what I have read so far, this book has some very bleak moments and I am almost certain this will get quite worse, particularly when reading in bed and Robert says "so who has died so far?". Oh dear. As with The Book of Negros, the story weaves around actual historical occurrences, in this case, India around the time of Partition. Historical fiction is something I had previously avoided, however I have begun to enjoy this in my reading more recently. I have always felt I had a poor understanding, or more likely poor retention, of world history and in some ways these stories help restore my memory. I am certain I will have more to write on this book, but until then, goodnight and happy reading.