A Burning

Author(s): Megha MAJUMDAR

Contemporary Fiction | Staff Picks- Read our reviews

Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth and hope and humor--has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear. Taut, symphonic, propulsive, and riveting from its opening lines, A Burning has the force of an epic while being so masterfully compressed it can be read in a single sitting. Majumdar writes with dazzling assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as the components of a thriller: class, fate, corruption, justice, and what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism. An extraordinary debut.  

"This debut novel is something special.

There is a terrorist attack on a train in Kolkata and over a hundred people perish.

Jivan, a young Muslim girl from the nearby slum, feels that the police should have done more to help.

She is implicated in the attack when she expresses these sentiments in a Facebook chat.

PT Sir, a former teacher, and Lovely, a local hijra, can vouch for her.

They have to make their way in the world as well, but surely justice and humanity will prevail.

Not since A Fine Balance have I read an Indian novel that has moved me as much.It left me with more questions than answers, and I think I will be recommending it for years to come. Reviewed by David"

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Product Information

Highly readable and recommended. A random Facebook post has devastating consequences for an innocent and powerless woman in modern India.  - April  

General Fields

  • : 9781471190278
  • : Scribner
  • : Scribner
  • : January 2020
  • : ---length:- '8.504'width:- '5.315'units:- Inches
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Megha MAJUMDAR
  • : Paperback
  • : 2007
  • : English
  • : 813.6
  • : very good
  • : 304
  • : FA