“Immaculately constructed, acidly observed and gripping from start to finish, A Burning is a brilliant debut.”

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

Just finished A Burning by Megha Majumdar. Debut novel. This excellent book tells the story of 3 people, all connected to a tragic event.
A terrorist attack on a train that kills a number of people affects the lives of 3 separate people, who are connected to each other.
Jivan is a young Muslim girl living in the slums. She dedicates herself to teaching people in these slums how to read. Lovely is a transgender living in the slum and Jivan is helping her to learn and read English. PT Sir is a gym teacher and Jivan at one time was one of his students.

All of them have separate dreams. Jivan wants out of the slums and to move up to the middle class. Lovely wants to be an actress and PT Sir wants to enter politics.
When Jivan is falsely arrested for the bombing, they will all three become involved. Lovely will testify for the defense while PT Sir will testify for the prosecution. How this attack and trial changes all of their lives is the main storyline.

The book is well written and quickly becomes a real page Turner as you become involved in the quest for the truth about Livan.
Long listed for the National Book Award this book is highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by:

Richard Franco

Added 22nd January 2021

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Richard Franco