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Rohinton Mistry was born in Bombay in 1952 into a Parsi family and studied mathematics and economics at St. Xavier's College. In 1975 he moved to Toronto with his future wife, Freny Elavia, worked in a bank, then went back to the University of Toronto to study English and philosophy. In 1983 his story “One Sunday” won a Hart House literary prize; Tales from Firozsha Baag (1987) followed, eleven linked stories about the residents of one Bombay apartment block. All three of his novels were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. A Fine Balance (1995) puts a Parsi widow, two tailors and a student in one small flat during the Emergency, and won the Giller Prize. He has published no novel since Family Matters (2002). The ten writers below share his ground: a crowded household, a small family set against a large history, and a refusal to look away from what power does to the poor.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 authors · Literary fiction · India and the Parsi community · Updated October 2026
Quick answer
If you love Rohinton Mistry, start with Thrity Umrigar, whose The Space Between Us (2006) follows a wealthy Parsi widow in Bombay and the servant who has worked for her for more than twenty years. For a vast novel of newly independent India, read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (1993); for Parsi family comedy, read Bapsi Sidhwa's The Crow Eaters (1978). The list also goes back to Dickens and Narayan, and includes a reporter who wrote as nonfiction the Bombay that Mistry imagined.
10 authors like Rohinton Mistry
Where to start if you loved Rohinton Mistry
If you loved A Fine Balance, read Thrity Umrigar.
The Space Between Us: a Parsi widow in Bombay and the servant whose life she never fully sees.
If you want another vast Indian novel, read Vikram Seth.
A Suitable Boy: 1950s families, weddings and politics across more than a thousand pages.
If you loved the Parsi neighbours of Firozsha Baag, read Bapsi Sidhwa.
The Crow Eaters (1978): a comic Parsi family saga that moves to Lahore.
If you want the classic behind him, read Charles Dickens.
Bleak House (1853): institutions, poverty and a city full of characters.
If you want more Rohinton Mistry, start with A Fine Balance.
A Fine Balance (1995) first, then Such a Long Journey (1991), about a Parsi bank clerk in Bombay in 1971, and Tales from Firozsha Baag (1987). Family Matters (2002) is his most recent novel.
Frequently asked questions about authors like Rohinton Mistry
Who writes like Rohinton Mistry?
Thrity Umrigar and Bapsi Sidhwa for Parsi families, Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie for big novels of independent India, and Charles Dickens for the crowded social novel behind them all.
What should I read after A Fine Balance?
Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us (2006), and for nonfiction, Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2012).
Does Rohinton Mistry have a new book?
No. His most recent novel is Family Matters (2002); since then he has published only The Scream (2006), a short illustrated story issued to support World Literacy of Canada.
Which Rohinton Mistry book should I read first?
A Fine Balance (1995), which won the Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. For something shorter, start with Tales from Firozsha Baag (1987).
Why was Such a Long Journey removed from the Mumbai University syllabus?
In 2010 Aditya Thackeray, grandson of the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, objected to the novel's language about his grandfather and about Maharashtrians, and the vice-chancellor used emergency powers to withdraw it. Teachers defended the book, and Mistry said he was disappointed.
Is Rohinton Mistry like Salman Rushdie?
Both were born in Bombay and both wrote about the Emergency. Rushdie uses magic realism; Mistry writes plain realism about ordinary families.
Sources
List last reviewed 31 October 2026.
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