Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! For
readers of Tommy Orange Yaa Gyasi and Jhumpa Lahiri an electrifying debut novel 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 has the force of an epic while being
so masterfully compressed it can be read in a single sitting. Majumdar writes with dazzling
assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as the components of a thriller:
class fate corruption justice and what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet
nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism. An extraordinary debut.
