A Burning

At the beginning of Megha Majumdar’s novel, terrorists in Kolabagan, India blow up a train, killing over 100 people. It’s terrible and awful — and everyone turns to Facebook to discuss it. At her parents’ house in the slums, Jivan shares a video of a woman being interviewed on the news about how the policemen just stood and watched. She adds her thoughts. The next morning, she is arrested and accused of collaborating with the terrorists. Jivan proclaims her innocence, saying she couldn’t have been involved — she was teaching English to a woman named Lovely — but no one listens. Soon, we’re introduced to the other two perspectives in A Burning: Lovely, a woman of trans experience who dreams of becoming an actress, and PT Sir, Jivan’s former gym teacher who is opportunistic and falls in with an emergent right-wing party. Majumdar writes with such heart, and such a clear understanding of the socio-economic and political dimensions of the story, that it is hard not to get caught up in everything while reading this book.

Majumdar, speaking to NPR, said she was struck by the rising extremism in the U.S. and India. “I think what feels remarkable to me right now is that I started writing this book several years ago, paying attention to how the state's systems of oppression bear down upon marginalized groups. And here we are, you and I, chatting today when the mood in the U.S. is so remarkably similar. And the parallels between India and the U.S. are stunning. I mean, there are scholars and journalists who have written about the links between Hindu nationalism and white supremacy. So I think there are these really close links between what's happening in India and what's happening in the U.S. And I hope that through this book, which, yes, is about oppression and yes, is about systems of discrimination, I hope that people also do pay attention to how the characters in this book dream and make jokes and strive even in conditions of great oppression, and I hope that feels meaningful to anybody picking up the book in the U.S.”

It definitely felt meaningful to me.

Rating: ★★★★★