Kumaran Vaidyar is trying to make ends meet. His constant efforts go into helping the people of his town keep their bodies and souls together, to provide them with the basic necessity of food. Such state of affairs ensue in Mahe when the French, after a colonial rule of 230 years, leave the town of Kerala to fend for its independent self. However, the decolonization leaves a lot of the inhabitants of the town at a loss for their livings and standard of lives. Parallel to the dedicated life of Kumaran is that of the magician, Father Alphonse who turns rocks and pebbles into candies. In the midst of such transformations, the book focuses on the blissful life of the three children- Elsie, Shashi and Shivan. These kids grow up with time only to find that there is a stark reality waiting for them to step out of their joyous childhood. The Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award winner, 'God's Mischief', translated into English from the original Malyalam version is a coming-of-age story set against the historical backdrop of the Mahe town. The cultural and social shift in the lifestyle of the town-dwellers is used to narrate the story of the three kids, and how history and adulthood moulded them.
