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A Burning

The most electrifying debut of 2021

by Megha Majumdar

Due to publisher restrictions, this audiobook is unavailable for purchase in your selected country.

Length 7 hours 21 minutes

Language English

Narrators Vikas Adam, Priya Ayyar, Deepti Gupta, Ulka Simone Mohanty, Soneela Nankani & Neil Shah

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Bookseller recommendation

“A debut novel about contemporary India that manages to evoke the complexity of the forces that are shaking the country’s social structure. In fast-paced prose, the author tells of three people whose lives intersect around a court case. Jivan, a teenage girl from the city’s slums, is falsely accused of throwing a bomb at a train. Called to testify are her high school gym teacher, PT Sir, a man of conflicting morals, who is interested in getting into politics, and Lovely, a transgender woman who has dreams of becoming an actress and to whom Jivan was teaching English. As Jivan languishes in prison, PT Sir and Lovely concentrate on their own selfish interests, and there is a palpable sense of foreboding that made me want to yell at the two of them to help Jivan before it’s too late!”
— Alice • Blue Willow Bookshop

Summary
About the author

'Immaculately constructed, acidly observed and gripping from start to finish, A Burning is a brilliant debut.' The Guardian
'A big hit in America last year, this buzzy debut about the impact of a terrorist attack in a Kolkata slum on three connected characters is full of hot-button global topics, including violent nationalism' Metro

‘Powerful. […] Majumdar’s page-turning thriller seeks to open our eyes to the role of persecution in populist politics’ – Mail on Sunday

‘An evocative insight into class, corruption, injustice and power dynamics, this poignant tale makes for memorable reading’ Cosmopolitan

‘Majumdar conjures up three notably effervescent, intense voices’? Daily Telegraph

'A brilliant character study about politics and power, this assured debut moves at a thriller's pace but with a meticulous eye for detail.' Nikesh Shukla

'A Burning is a political thriller so charged and tense, it will keep you reading after lights out.' Red Magazine

A girl walks through the slums of Kolkata holding an armful of books. She returns home smelling of smoke, and checks her most prized possession: a brand-new smartphone, purchased in instalments. On Facebook, there is only one conversation.

#KolabaganTrainAttack

On the small, glowing screen, she types a dangerous thing…

‘If the police didn’t help ordinary people like you and me, if the police watched them die, doesn’t that mean that the government is also a terrorist?’

Set in contemporary India, A Burning is the story of three unforgettable characters, all dreaming of a better future, whose lives are changed for ever when they become caught up in the devastating aftermath of a terrorist attack.

Jivan – a poor, young, Muslim girl, who dreams of going to college – faces a possible death sentence after being accused of collaborating with the terrorists.
Lovely – an exuberant hijra who longs to be a Bollywood star – holds the alibi that can set Jivan free, but telling the truth will cost her everything she holds dear.
PT Sir – an opportunistic gym teacher who once taught Jivan – becomes involved with Hindu nationalist politics and his own ascent is soon inextricably linked to Jivan’s fall.

Taut, propulsive and electrifying, from its opening lines to its astonishing finale, A Burning confronts issues of class, fate, prejudice and corruption with a Dickensian sense of injustice, and asks us to consider what it means to nurture big ambitions in a country hurtling towards political extremism.

A Burning is a novel for our times and for all time.

Fiction

MEGHA MAJUMDAR was born and raised in Kolkata, India. She moved to the United States to attend college at Harvard University, followed by graduate school in social anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She works as an editor at Catapult, and lives in New York City. A Burning is her first book. Follow her on Twitter @MeghaMaj and Instagram @megha.maj