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Megha Majumdar
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A Burning: A novel Hardcover – June 2, 2020

by Megha Majumdar (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 5,152 ratings
Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
See all formats and editions
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK! • A "gripping thriller with compassionate social commentary"  (USA Today) about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise—to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies—and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India.

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 is an electrifying debut.
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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Knopf
  4. Publication date
    June 2, 2020
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0525658696
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0525658696
  8. See all details
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Get to know this book

Previous page

  1. What's it about?

    A Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook.

  2. Popular highlight

    Her husband threw acid on her but, somehow, she is the one in jail. These things happen when you are a woman.
    533 Kindle readers highlighted this

  3. Popular highlight

    That is how my life is going forward—some insult in my face, some sweet in my mouth.
    451 Kindle readers highlighted this

  4. Popular highlight

    In this life, everybody is knowing how to give me shame. So I am learning how to reflect shame back on them also.
    447 Kindle readers highlighted this
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From the Publisher

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of June 2020: A Burning by Megha Majumdar is a thoughtful and thought provoking debut set in present day India. The novel starts off with a young Muslim woman named Jivan leaving a message on Facebook that criticizes the government. The problem is she does so in reference to a train station bombing; as a result, her almost castaway comment will come back to find her. The story is told from three different points of view, which the author masterfully choreographs. There is Jivan. There is Lovely, a Hijra who wants to be a movie star. And there is PT Sir, a gym teacher who finds himself drawn to a local populist movement. Their stories snake around each other to establish a captivating storyline, and while there is ripe space for political and social exploration in this book, Megha Majumbar never sacrifices the inner lives of her characters to explore those broader themes. She delivers on both levels, and that is a truly exceptional achievement. —Chris Schluep, Amazon Book Review

Review

WINNER OF THE WHITING AWARD • A New York Times Notable Book • National Book Award Nominee • One of the Guardian's Best Books of the Year• National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award Nominee • American Library Accociation Andrew Carnegie Medal Finalist 

"Riveting. . . . Fate has rarely been so many-faced, so muscular, so mercurial, or so mesmerizing as it is in A Burning."
—The New York Times Book Review (cover)

"Powerful... propulsive...This is a book to relish for its details, for the caress of the writer’s gaze against the world... The interplay of choice and circumstance has always been the playing field of great fiction, and on this terrain, a powerful new writer stakes her claim."
—Parul Sehgal, The New York Times

“Majumdar demonstrates an uncanny ability to capture the vast scope of a tumultuous society by attending to the hopes and fears of people living on the margins. The effect is transporting.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"Immersive. . . . Masterly. . . . the elements of a thriller are transmuted into prismatic portraiture. . . . Her spare plot moves with arrowlike determination."
—James Wood, The New Yorker

“A Burning lays bare the urgent need for a justice system that upholds its ideals, elegantly excoriating a world where corruption and inequity rot the lives of those wrongly viewed as disposable. In blistering, beautiful prose, Majumdar illuminates the dark truths of the modern world, while also celebrating the burning deep in the hearts of strivers everywhere.” 
—Esquire

“In her captivating debut novel A Burning, Megha Majumdar presents a powerful corrective to the political narratives that have dominated in contemporary India.”
—Time

“A story you’ll want to read in just one sitting. . . . A thrilling and complex tale.” 
—CNN

“A scorching and intimate look at those who find themselves bearing the full brunt of an enormous, diverse society’s prejudices and passions. . . . A Burning is a taut, propulsive and devastating debut novel.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Combines fast-paced plotting with the kind of atmospheric detail one might find in the work of Jhumpa Lahiri or Daniyal Mueenuddin. . . . A highly compelling read”
—Vogue
“Precise, human and powerful. You can feel these big intersecting currents of history, progress and technology pulling these three characters in, crushing one of them and propelling the others to great heights. It’s a really tight read. I read it in one sitting.” 
—The Guardian

“One of the most invigorating debuts in recent memory. . . . A Burning is like a sparking power line, releasing jolts of bright light, humor and compassion.”
—Zyzzyva

“[A] rich debut novel. . . . A Burning forces us to see the inequities in this world, and the way desire for freedom is so often thwarted, especially for those less fortunate, by those around them.”
—Ploughshares

“[A Burning] is fast-paced enough to feel like a literary thriller, yet also turns a wise eye toward the complexities of life in contemporary India. . . . A novel for our times.” 
—Chicago Review of Books

“A haunting portrait of a country and city steeped in nationalism, A Burning splits open society and presents it, three ways, for our consideration.”
—The Rumpus

"Powerful . . . a gripping thriller with compassionate social commentary. . . . It’s hard not to feel intense heartache while reading A Burning. Majumdar's powerful debut is carefully crafted for maximum impact, carving out the most urgent parts of its characters for the whole world to see. This novel rightfully commands attention."
—USA Today

“Polyphonic . . . Lovely is a particular gem. . . . brilliant” 
—Kirkus Reviews

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf; First Edition (June 2, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0525658696
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525658696
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 5,152 ratings

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Megha Majumdar

Megha Majumdar

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
5,152 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style well-written, realistic, and honest. They also say the characters are well-developed and the insight vivid, disturbing, and cerebral. Opinions differ on the emotional tone and pace, with some finding it sad and profound, while others find it depressing and lacking originality.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
Writing styleCharactersInsightChapter lengthEmotional tonePaceBook integrity
48 customers mention "Writing style"38 positive10 negative

Customers find the writing style well-written, witty, descriptive, spare, and lilting. They also say the short chapters make for quick reading and the author offers an honest picture of Indian society.

"...The first thing a reader will notice is the narrative style of the writing...." Read more

"...While it is poignant and well-written, and provides wonderful insight into Indian culture, I do <b>..." Read more

"...For me, literature plays a huge role in that apprehension. A Burning is a quick read, and I found myself in tears at the end...." Read more

""A Burning" is beautiful with spare prose and intertwined stories illuminating aspiration, class structure and nationalism...." Read more

22 customers mention "Characters"16 positive6 negative

Customers find the characters in the book well-developed, unique, and human.

"...The book's structure enhances the character's perspectives and I am sure each will stick in my head for a long time...." Read more

"...The author portrays her culture with courage, depth, humility, candor, and profound respect...." Read more

"...Third, the characters are totally unappealing, but not interestingly unappealing...." Read more

"...A Burning is Megha Majumdar’s first novel, combining a character study, a political tempest, a communal heartbreak...." Read more

18 customers mention "Insight"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides good insight into the lower cast of today's India. They also say the familiar grounds are exceptionally well told, grounded, and fully realized. Readers say the book depicts how good people change for expediency. They appreciate the courage, depth, humility, candor, and profound respect. They describe the book as vivid and disturbing.

"...While it is poignant and well-written, and provides wonderful insight into Indian culture, I do <b>..." Read more

"...This is a compelling debut novel. It's compact and makes the most of braiding the stories and revealing more and more of the corruption,..." Read more

"...- a compelling momentum, believable characters and dialogue, believable action, and granular details that make reading the book feel like traveling,..." Read more

"...ties these characters together is their grit, inventiveness, and intelligence, something I have observed in my few times in India...." Read more

3 customers mention "Chapter length"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the chapters in the book brief and punchy, told from three rotating points of view.

"...This is a deceptively short book, with a TON of “blank space” generated by having very short chapters, sometimes only a page and a half long)...." Read more

"...The chapters are brief and punchy, told from three rotating points of view: Jivan, a teenage girl who lives in a Kolkata slum; Lovely, a hijra with..." Read more

"...the transliteration of spoken Indian-English onto the page, the brief chapters, the smell and sounds of real India (especially poor) - and the..." Read more

33 customers mention "Emotional tone"10 positive23 negative

Customers are mixed about the emotional tone. Some find the book sad and profound, while others say it's depressing, poorly written, and lacks originality. They also mention that the story involves some pretty unsettling events.

"...into this book with little clue as to the plot and was shocked by how bleak the story was...." Read more

"...read, but I found I had to take it slow, because it was desperately depressing...." Read more

"...While it is poignant and well-written, and provides wonderful insight into Indian culture, I do <b>..." Read more

"This novel fails (and fails badly) for a few reasons.First, the author never satisfyingly braids the three storylines together...." Read more

8 customers mention "Pace"4 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pace of the book. Some find it superb and timely, while others say it wraps things up too quickly.

"The story moved quickly from what was to what is!..." Read more

"This book starts slowly. I thought it would be a shallow piece with its Facebook beginning. Boy was I wrong...." Read more

"...The writing is descriptive, spare, and witty; the plot is unusual, yet timely and universal. The character development is beautifully crafted." Read more

"...And end sort of seem to just wrap things up tidy and a bit too quickly." Read more

3 customers mention "Book integrity"0 positive3 negative

Customers find the book integrity lacking. They mention that it contains corruption, oppression of the poor and innocent, and a flagrant lack of integrity.

"The ugly face of power and corruption...." Read more

"Corruption, oppression of the poor and innocent , flagrant lack of concern for morality and ethics. Familiar grounds exceptionally well told." Read more

"...The characters are awful. The subject matter is awful. Corruption abounds...." Read more

Characters you will live with for a long time
5 out of 5 stars
Characters you will live with for a long time
Fantastic debut novel, capturing not only the atmosphere of India, but the universal human moral dilemmas that so often end in heartbreak.
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Top reviews from the United States

Cassie Troja
3.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020
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Let me start by saying that this book is beautifully written. The author portrays her culture with courage, depth, humility, candor, and profound respect. It is one of the world’s worst kept secrets that the government, especially at the lower levels, is often gallingly corrupt. The storyline, although predictable, is still moving and heartbreaking. I appreciated how this book highlighted various fringe/minority groups as well. The main character is Muslim, which is a dangerous way of life in many parts of India. This is even portrayed in a scene of horrendous and fatal violence against a Muslim family whose only crime was eating beef. However, without expounding and in an effort to avoid politicizing this review, I will simply say that while I felt compassion for the character “Lovely,” I did not appreciate the subtle attempt at normalizing gender dysphoria. This is my primary reason for downgrading this novel.

This is a “chew and spit” book for me, meaning I did not necessarily feel the need to abandon it, but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I otherwise would have if it weren’t for certain themes. While it is poignant and well-written, and provides wonderful insight into Indian culture, I do <b>not</b> recommend this book, especially for younger audiences. The mature content and inappropriate portrayal of mental illness are not appropriate for teens and below. For older audiences, I would recommend group reading so that discussion can help with processing and digesting with compassion but Godly discernment.
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Abeer Y. Hoque
4.0 out of 5 stars thrilling provocative and political
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020
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A Burning by Megha Majumdar

“One morning, daylight fails.”

A Burning is Megha Majumdar’s first novel, combining a character study, a political tempest, a communal heartbreak. The chapters are brief and punchy, told from three rotating points of view: Jivan, a teenage girl who lives in a Kolkata slum; Lovely, a hijra with acting ambitions who Jivan is tutoring in English; and PT Sir, Jivan’s gym teacher who joins a rising Hindu party movement. Their personal connections are thrown into relief when Jivan gets caught up in a criminal case involving a terrorist attack (which takes place within the first few pages - no spoilers!).

“The rules are different on a rainy day.”

While the plot of a terrorist attack and its aftermath is the main driver of the novel, I especially loved the urban details of the city of Kolkata. Because Jivan and Lovely are both surviving on the lower rungs of society, the street with its vigor and filth is never very far from view. The hawkers, the dirt, the heat, the crowds - all of it feels tangibly present: “A pillow filler is walking by, twanging his cotton-sorting instrument like a harp.” A great deal of the novel takes place in a prison and that whole dire ecosystem feels painfully real: “It is as peaceful as it gets in a cage.”

I found the main characters compelling, if a little simply drawn (a bit like icons of themselves). For instance, it came as a surprise to me that Jivan was Muslim because nothing in her family’s cultural or religious traditions (or her name or her speech patterns) hints at this. Her religion is a critical pivot in the plot but we’re simply told what she believes. However, there’s enough else going on to keep a reader thrillingly occupied. Majumdar’s gift is in showing how poverty and communal strife can grow slowly yet inexorably into something quite frightening. As different as America might be from India, when it comes to how both countries treat those accused of terrorism, there’s not much moral or ethical ground between them.

“There is a lot about life that the law misses.”

At the individual level, the characters in A Burning are faced with choices that bear upon their personal lives, liberties, and ambitions. Majumdar refers to “the riot economy” and how the persecution of certain groups leads to profit for others. I am reminded of the choices American citizens have made to look away from systemic racism, gun violence, immigrant children locked in cages, the poisoning of water and land and air. There are many roads to fascism and no country is immune, even with constant vigilance. For me, literature plays a huge role in that apprehension. A Burning is a quick read, and I found myself in tears at the end. I’ll happily read more by the author.
6 people found this helpful
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Leslie Kelsay
5.0 out of 5 stars Three stories, many themes, five stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
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"A Burning" is beautiful with spare prose and intertwined stories illuminating aspiration, class structure and nationalism. The Indian setting moves us away from familiar depictions and customs of the themes, making the focus sharper.

Jivan is a slum-living shop girl who witnesses a terrorist attack on a commuter train in which 100 people die and hundreds are burned. A seemingly innocuous comment in a Facebook conversation makes her a target of investigation and prosecution.

PT Sir is a physical education teacher at the less than average girls school Jivan attended. Essentially seduced by a free snack offered because of a political party emblem he picked up at a rally, he stumbles on a career ladder with access to power and wealth, steps on and keeps climbing.

Lovely is a hijra, a transgender woman who is at once an outcast who begs for her living and, with her sisters, sought after for blessings of babies and bridal couples. Jivan was teaching her English to improve her chances for the film career she was so confident could be hers.

This is a compelling debut novel. It's compact and makes the most of braiding the stories and revealing more and more of the corruption, constriction and success.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Asad Ansari
5.0 out of 5 stars You can judge it by its color too
Reviewed in Canada on February 13, 2021
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Even the two tone color of the hardcover book is exquisite.

An excellent book, however, I will not remember it for "boundless energy and starry eyed hopefulness of India's youth" as noted on the back cover.

There was no hopefulness of India's youth, that I could see.

But I strongly recommend this novel. Beautifully written. Character leap out at you from the pages. (Many of us would remember a PT instructor from their school days).

Megha - keep on writing
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Lily Piccal
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, a terrific story about difficult issues, corruption, human nature
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2021
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Such a well told story. I wanted to live with it for ever. The characters are so wonderful I didn't want to let go of the central character, Jivan. The structure and writing show that literature can be simply magical.
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Random Robin
5.0 out of 5 stars A searing read
Reviewed in India on January 12, 2021
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A Burning by Megha Mujumdar left me chilled. And it wasn’t just because the book reflects the realities of present-day India, but because this story could be anyone’s story. This could be your story. This could be my story.

Sedition is a serious crime, one worthy of rigorous investigation by law enforcement authorities, but in the world of the novel, all that gets thrown out of the window. All it takes is a single tweet, post, share, comment to be labelled as public enemy number one—due process be damned. If you are unfortunate enough to have the ‘wrong name’ or practice the ‘wrong religion’, that just makes their job easier. Whatever little hope you might harbour of a free and fair trial, you should leave it at your doorstep the second police drag you hand-cuffed across your threshold in the middle of the night. The system, your friends, the press, your fellow citizens (especially your fellow citizens) will fail you; it would be foolish to think otherwise.

Jivan is living the dream, well not really, but her family is better off now than when they once were. When they leave their impoverished life behind in the village to live an impoverished life in the big city, a chance encounter with an NGO worker brings forth a small reversal in fortune. And so, on a ‘poor-people scholarship’, Jivan begins her formal education at an English school. Jivan is not blind to this privilege and is determined to make the most of it. She studies hard, learns English (the language of prosperity), plays sports with enthusiasm and after passing her tenth standard exam, quits school and gets a job as a salesgirl at Pantaloons, a large retail chain. With her salary, she supplements her household’s income, buys her mother a new saree, a shiny blue one with a border, and for herself a smart-phone — the size of a brick. Her dream of being ‘middle class’ someday is off to a promising start.

Then a terrorist faction set a train on fire one night, and all goes to hell. Jivan makes the mistake of calling out the government and the police on social media for the ineffectualness. It doesn’t help that she was present at the railway station (to smoke a cigarette, oh the irony) at the time of the burning. Or that she is Muslim. Or poor. As the book progresses, we learn that’s all the government needs to declare her as the culprit and for people to bay for her blood.

The story is told from three distinctive points of view: Jivan (the protagonist, the victim), Lovely (the hijra, Jivan’s only friend and ally) and PT Sir (an opportunistic teacher at her old school, who feels slighted by her insufficient gratitude for the kindness he has shown to her, he had after all given her food from his tiffin. A banana here, a sandwich there).

Amongst the three voices, I found Lovely’s to be the most compelling and entertaining (if such a thing can be said about this book). She also shares the most in common with Jivan; they both live on the fringes of society and have the audacity to want a better life for themselves. Perhaps this is why they are drawn to each other. Lovely dreams of becoming a movie star and Jivan teaches her English so that she can read scripts and talk to big-big movie producers. By sheer luck and a strange turn of events, Lovely gets her big break, but it comes at a price. Did you really think it would be free?

Of all the characters, it was PT Sir, who was the most hair-raising. The man, dare I say, embodies the worst in all of us, an ordinary person, all too willing to turn the other way in the face of depravity if it is self-serving. The author portrays this so splendidly in the final conversation between Bimal, the newly appointed chief minister and PT Sir. The scene left me with a deep sense of discomfort because it was all too easy to slip into his shoes and roost there.
I loved the sparse, unsentimental prose. It felt as though the author had chosen each word, each sentence, each analogy to inflict the most hurt upon the reader. Ironically, it is the lack of melodrama that darkens the mood of the book.

I did not care much for the interludes that expand upon the lives of the minor characters. At one point, especially with these sections, it felt like the book was trying to do too much. Also, the quick changes in perspective and the switch from first person to third person takes some getting use to, but these are small gripes.
No matter what side of the political divide you come from, A Burning gives you a lot to think about. For that alone, I would recommend it.
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Carolyn
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing characters yearning for a better life in modern India.
Reviewed in Canada on July 15, 2020
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This is a powerful book that is short and concise but reads like an epic. I would have been happy if this novel were expanded to reveal more about the struggles facing the intriguing characters and the city in which they lived. This is a remarkably accomplished debut and I hope the author has plans for more books in the future. Told through the viewpoints of three fascinating and different people, what they have in common is a burning ambition to improve their lot in life in modern-day India.

Jivan is a Moslem girl living in extreme poverty in the slums. She desires to rise to a middle-class lifestyle. She is on her way having obtained a salaried position at a clothing store in the Mall. She is hardworking and helpful in her community. Fate intervenes when she is on her way to deliver a parcel of textbooks to a person she is helping learn English. She is observed near the train station during the time when there was a massive explosion on the train and numerous people died. Jivan had been entertaining herself posting on FaceBook and she wrote a comment disparaging the police. She was promptly arrested as the authorities needed someone to blame, and they decided her package of books contained incendiary devices. She had been messaging a young foreign man on FaceBook. The police regarded him as a terrorist recruiter. Jivan knew nothing of his beliefs and they only talked about mundane, everyday things. She is taken to prison and is awaiting trial for the deaths of about 100 people.

Lovely is a hijra, belonging to a group born male but living as females, and now recognized as a third sex. The group makes a meagre living by providing blessings, songs and dance to new parents and at wedding parties. They occasionally have to resort to begging on the street and on trains. Lovely has dreams of becoming an actress. To reach these goals she has been learning English from Jivan and taking drama lessons. She could be a positive witness for Jivan and provide an alibi.

PT Sir works as a physical education teacher at a girls' school He is befriended by chance by members of the right-wing opposition group. He is ambitious and rises quickly in politics. He is paid to attend court pretending to be a witness against those unlucky people charged with crimes. He once taught Jivan and thought she had a future as a talented athlete. At school, she was ragged and hungry, and he shared lunches with her. He resented that she left school without saying goodbye or thanking him.

The story encompasses themes of class, political corruption, injustice, religious intolerance, and betrayal. It touches on how internet media and false news can contribute to one's fame or doom.
Will Lively or PT Sir provide testimony to save Jivan while putting aside their own ambitions and dreams?
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Sure-footed, lithe and immersive!
Reviewed in India on July 27, 2020
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Megha Majumdar's debut novel is a grim but accurate portrayal of contemporary India, written with great empathy and flair. The narrative swivels between three central characters:

Jivan - A young, ambitious woman whose life is upended due to a tiny social - media misadventure. By questioning the administration about their handling of a terrorist attack, she finds herself accused of conspiring against the state.

Lovely - A starry-eyed 'hijra' living in the same slum as Jivan and whose been at the receiving end of Jivan's kindness and is a key witness in her trial.

PT Sir - Jivan's PE teacher in school, whose political aspirations constantly erode his moral fortitude. He is not inherently evil, but gradually adorns the depravity required to further his cause, unmindful of the consequences.

Through these three primary narratives and a series of interludes attributed to other smaller characters, the author tackles a variety of issues afflicting our society - communalism, judicial apathy, media trials, mob lynching, corruption and the politics of hatred.

Each character has a unique voice. Lovely especially stands out as she exclusively speaks in the present continuous tense - "I am reading the words so many times I am knowing them like a song.". We understand their fears, their motivations and their actions through their eyes.

The story moves on with a sense of inevitability. In one of the more poignant lines Jivan says, "The goat must have had a life, much like me. At the end of its life, maybe it had been led by a rope to the slaughterhouse, and maybe, from the smell of blood which emerged from that room, the goat knew where it was being taken.". The conclusion, although predictable, leaves you with a sense of despair.

The writing is sure-footed, lithe and immersive. The first-person narration keeps the reader hooked right till the end. The novel is written with earnestness and it shows. Give it a read - you won't regret it.
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