A Burning: A Read with Jenna Pick

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.

Short-listed for Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction 2020 Short-listed for National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize 2020 Long-listed for National Book Award 2020

“INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK and one of the most anticipated books of summer 2020 by the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, O, Elle , The Millions, and Lit Hub "Riveting...This is a novel of our pandemic times, an exploration of precarity in all its forms...Majumdar excels at depicting the workings of power on the powerless... 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 "The must-read novel of the summer... This all-consuming story rages along, bright and scalding... 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, often thrilling, finally harrowing... Majumdar''s outrage is matched only by her sympathy for these ordinary people... [ A Burning ] is a damning critique of a culture that generates constant upheaval but no systemic change." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "Immersive...masterly... the elements of a thriller are transmuted into prismatic portraiture... A Burning has a similar urgency of appeal [to Faulkner''s As I Lay Dying .] Its characters are at the very front of the stage, and we can feel their breath... Her spare plot moves with arrowlike determination...I can''t remember when I last read a novel that so quickly dismantled the ordinary skepticism that attends the reading of made-up stories. Early Naipaul comes to mind as a precursor, and perhaps Akhil Sharma''s stupendously vivid novel Family Life ... It''s only at the end of this brief, brave novel that one becomes fully aware of how broad its judgments have been, how fierce and absolute its condemnations. Through the gaps that open up among and behind these three characters, a large Indian panoply emerges." --James Wood, The New Yorker "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 "In her captivating debut novel A Burning , Megha Majumdar presents a powerful corrective to the political narratives that have dominated in contemporary India." -- Time "Propulsive...ambitious...beautiful and supple...heartbreaking." -- The Boston Globe "Remarkable...Early buzz is already comparing A Burning to the work of modern literary stars . . . but the voice--or voices--here are entirely Majumdar''s own." --Entertainment Weekly "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 "Majumdar''s explosive first novel is an intimate epic." --O Magazine "Unforgettable" --Harper''s Bazaar " A Burning by Megha Majumdar is quietly beautiful and devastating. Its tone and pacing are measured perfectly. It is as funny as it is sad. This book won''t let you go, and you won''t want it to end." --Tommy Orange " A Burning is an excellently crafted, utterly thrilling novel full of characters that I won''t soon forget. Megha Majumdar writes about the ripple effects of our choices, the interconnectedness of our humanity, with striking beauty and clarity. A stunning debut." --Yaa Gyasi "Megha Majumdar''s soon-to-be published A Burning is the best debut novel I have come across in a long time. Somehow Majumdar succeeds in capturing the boundless energy and starry-eyed hopefulness of the country''s youth. A Burning signals the arrival of a new voice of immense talent and promise." --Amitav Ghosh "Polyphonic...Lovely is a particular gem...brilliant" --Kirkus Reviews "This is a novel of now: a beautifully constructed literary thriller from a rare and powerful new voice." --Colum McCann”

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

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.

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