A Burning - Megha Majumbar

This debut novel follows 3 main characters whose lives revolve around one lie in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Our main characters are a teacher with a taste for politics, a young woman accused of a crime and an actress looking to pursue their career. I really enjoyed the narration during this book as we flick back and forth between the three characters and I feel this really helped the flow of the book. I felt a lot of emotions during this book and found it harrowing at times. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author. Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me the opportunity to enjoy and review this book

If the police didn’t help ordinary people like you and me, if the police watched them die, doesn’t that mean that the government us also a terrorist.

This impressive debut novel is set in Bengal – and opens in the voice of Jivan. Jivan is a young Muslim woman living in a Kolkota slum with her invalid Father (whose injuries started with a police beating after a forced eviction from a village above a mine) and her Mother. Jivan, who via an NGO, won a scholarship to an important school and there was taken under his wing by the PT Teacher (PT Sir) who recognises her poverty. But later she dropped out and took a job at a local department store where she has aspirations, first to provide for her parents (and to prevent her mother risking hear health and safety selling roadside breakfasts), and later to become middle class.

Jivan has just witnessed a terrorist atrocity – a firebombing of a train at a local train station which kills more than one hundred. She had gone to the station with a pile of her old books which she was going to give to a hirja – Lucky - that she is teaching English – but flees in terror after the attack. Later scrolling through Facebook – intrigued by the hashtags and video clips posted to Facebook and dismayed that her attempts to engage in the comments are not gathering Likes, she posts the inflammatory quote that opens my review.

From there things unravel rapidly for her – a few days later the police raid her home and arrest her and she becomes the prime suspect for the attack. Everything fits from the viewpoint of the authorities in two respects. Firstly the weight of circumstantial evidence in addition to her inflammatory post: she was seen at and then fleeing from the attack; she was carrying and then later without a suspicious package; kerosene soaked clothing is found at her house (either from her mother’s cleaning or simply planted); one of her Facebook overseas contacts is a known terrorist recruiter. Secondly convenience – failed CCTV cameras means there is no sighting of the main bombers, so the arrest of an anti-government Muslim girl from a poor background (and so with no supporters of influence) who can have been said to have guided the bombers through the slums, makes a handy response to the clamour for action and justice for the victims, which is heightened by an upcoming State Election being played out against a background of increasing right-wing Hindu nationalism.

Jirvan’s tale is told in the first person. She remains quietly convinced that her innocence will eventually lead to her release in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary and in the face of the inactivity of her state legal representative aims to mount her own defence – using various means of influence to arrange for a journalist to visit her in prison. Many of her chapters are formative parts of her life story as told to him. Jirvan’s bewilderment at her fate (but quiet and determined dignity to overcome it) is captured in her understated description of the increasing indignities she faces (her forced confession for example is only referred to by her after it is presented in court).

Jivan’s tale is interlinked with those of two others (lucky and PT Sir) – who, in contrast to her rapid unravelling, have a sudden uprise in fate. Both of the tales are also told in short first sections, interleaved with Jivan’s reflecting the way in which their rise is bound up with and sustained by the fall of Jivan.

PT Sir is the only male teacher at his school and of low profile and prestige compared to his academic colleagues – other than leading the annual patriotic parade or when he fixes the stage microphone in assembly. Patriotic but of rather modest and insecure ambition – he finds himself somehow electrified by his second-hand link to the atrocity, and is reminded of his bewilderment and resentment when his prize student dropped out of school without an explanation. And this electrification finds an outlet when he stumbles across a rally for the (fictional) populist Jana Kalyan (Well-Being for All) Party where he sees both a famous Bollywood actress and the party’s second-in-command – Bimala Pal – speak and is inspired – while remaining very much in the background - by an activist who climbs a car and waves a dagger. On his second rally his automatic intervention to fix a broken microphone propels him to the forefront and his link to the terrorist (particularly having spoken to the police about his doubts about her character) brings him to the forefront and to the attention of Bimala Pal.

From there PT Sir finds himself drawn ever closer to the Party – first as a paid false witness in court cases and then as a speaker visiting countryside schools to rally party support and to research likely vote winning education policies. His sometimes qualms out what he is required to do, his insecurities about himself and his wife’s aversion to the risks of the murky world of politicians all are gradually subsumed by the status, respect and material rewards that accrue to them via his involvement. He is only too aware, and made aware by others, that his advancement is tied up with his testimony against Jivan.

PT’s sections are rendered in a direct third party voice which neatly fits the way in which he observes himself in the eyes of others.

Lucky – between work giving out blessings in exchange for fees – aspires to an acting career and attends a local acting class. Lucky’s desperation for stardom is predictably exploited by agents and by a audition video maker – but when she testifies in court on Jivan’s behalf her testimony goes viral and suddenly doors begin to open: she is however increasingly aware that while her support for Jivan turbo-charged her career it could also act as a break on her ascent.

Lucky’s sections – reflecting both her character and shaky English - are told in a gushing first party section rendered in a present continuous tense and with unusual and vibrant metaphors and phrasing.

Occasional interludes give the brief stories of some of those with who the three characters interact -presenting a wider picture of the right wing nationalism and above all corruption which bedevil the state.

This book has been very popular in the US (where it was published some time ago) for I think three key reasons: firstly a rave review by James Wood in the New Yorker; second the resonances with events in the US (a world of authority indifference, police brutality and Facebook posts causing repercussions is not one that people view any more as being about another world). But the third is that this is simply a very well crafted book – showing remarkable control for a debut novel.

This book is very different from many other well-known NRI novels – there is for example no Rushdie/Roy like Magic Realism. The hirja connection bought to mind Roy’s “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” as the concentration on injustice and anti-Muslim prejudice (albeit in two other states) – but only really as a form of contrast. Where that book was at its best a sprawling multi-character epic, and at its worse badly in need of the editing that Roy allegedly refused; here the author herself is an editor at an independent press and has I think bought her own editing skills to bear – even before accepting the editing of others.

The result is a tightly plotted, highly controlled and focused story easily (and I think best) read in one sitting. It is perhaps no surprise to read that the author drew inspiration from highly regarded TV-shows and how they encourage binge watching via multiple characters and embedded narrative arcs.

But this is also an impressive as well as immediately immersive piece of fiction – the three characters come alive, their distinctive voices (as I have set out above) fit their characters, the author is excellent at conveying a lot in a few words.

And above all this is a fascinating and exploration of: aspiration in a world stacked against you; about the risks and temptations that accrue with advancement; about moral dilemmas in the face of corruption, inequality and injustice; and about the vagaries of opportunity and circumstance which itself creates inequality and inequity of outcome.

I found that the characters were a little bland and difficult to get into the book. The story tells of the struggle of 3 different people trying to improve their lot. The story line was promising but failed to deliver for me.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar is a skilful debut about three unique characters whose lives intersect and change forever over one dramatic event, a catastrophe in modern-day India. Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, who gets accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is a gym teacher who gets involved with a ring-wing political party, and goes through a big professional and personal transformation. Lovely is poor, transgender and full of dreams about becoming an actress. Her voice delivered in broken English fills the novel with warmth and humour.

It's a fast-paced novel that can be read in one breath. Majumdar addresses complex themes, such as class, corruption, and justice, through an easily-readable narrative and loveable characters. I read some reviews that characterised the novel as political fiction, but my reading wasn't such. After all, politics is everything, and for me Majumdar achieved a perfect balance between laying out the questions she wanted to raise via a well-executed character and plot development. It's a fantastic debut and I'm looking forward to reading more from this fresh, new voice.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and #NetGalley for my advanced digital copy.

I love all things from India - Indian culture absolutely fascinates me!!! I watched Pataal Lok on Amazon Prime recently which I loved and was shocked yet gripped by Delhi Crime. A Burning seemed like the perfect antidote to fill in that empty gap and I promise you: this.Book.Is.Amazing.
I spend my Christmas Eve glued to my kindle, sucked into Jivaan’s story. A Burning follows 3 protagonists, whose lives intervene through the character of Jivaan, a young girl barely into her 20s who gets arrested after her Facebook page is spotted by the police where she foolishly has written a post condemning the Indian government for the terrorist attack on a Burning train. Her account history reveals that she was, unknowingly to Jivaan, chatting with a terrorist recruiter, and she’s arrested and practically being treated as guilty because she was spotted with a parcel and running away when the train was burning. Then we have Lovely, a transsexual who was being tutored in English by Jivaan. Lovely has aspirations to become a Bollywood actress but her testimony can come at a cost to her dreams. Then we have PT Sir, a gym teacher, who once taught Jivaan and harbours a grudge for her due to her ingratitude for his kindness when she was a scholarship student. PT Sir gets embroiled in a Nationalistic political party and his conscience becomes, as the story progresses, heavy as he does questionable things for a reward and a rise in class.
This is a character focussed book, rather than a plot focussed, and it’s difficult to slot this into a category. Yet the prose is compulsive and gripping. I’m surprised this is a debut because the author does an excellent job of fleshing out the three characters. Jivaan and Lovely are sympathetic female characters, victim to this oppressive country where they live. While PT Sir is a morally grey man, who increasingly has no problem enabling a corrupt and an unjust system to line his pockets, his character isn’t stereotyped at all, and the author does a commendable job in allowing him to justify his actions and drawing out his motivations. He’s a petty man, albeit a compelling one.
I was completely blown away by this debut!! An accomplished piece of writing. I hope to see this one being longlisted for awards because it’s a commendable piece of fiction.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I’m a huge Indian-phile, and the premise of A Burning is so urgent and captivating that I was immediately intrigued.
This follows three characters:
* Jivaan, which means to live, exemplifies a life oppressed being a Muslim in a Hindu majority country that is governed by an Hindu government and is becoming increasingly nationalistic and Muslim-phobic. Following a terrorist attack Jivaan naively posts a comment on Facebook condemning the government’s lack of action and the following day is arrested.
* Lovely - a hijra (transsexual) who has dreams of being a star, was being tutored by Jivaan. Her court testimony can set Jivaan free, but it’ll come at a cost to her ambition. What will Lovely do?
* PT Sir taught Jivaan. But PT is beginning to get caught up in a nationalist party, and Jivaan becomes a step in the ladder that can get him what he wants.
This is a character-driven read, with the story itself leading to an inevitably harrowing climax that despite its predictable made me cry and broke my heart 💔 While the characters are somewhat unlikeable I personally found them nonetheless compelling, with an unflinching and brutally honest voice. I think the author does a great job of describing the characters’ motivation and what drives them. The way the characters justify their actions to themselves is so relatable yet equally chilling. For me this book is urgent, necessary, angry and does a top-notch job in explaining India’s current turmoil. 5/5.

I received an advanced reading copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and the author Megha Majumdar.
There were many interesting elements to this book, especially around Indian culture and politics, but unfortunately the overwhelming feeling I am left with is that it was only 'ok'.
There wasn't much of a story, and the characters weren't particularly involving or well developed. The story had potential though, if only with a little more detail and depth. 3 stars.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar is a powerful novel set in Calcutta tracking the interweaved stories of 3 characters – Jivan, Lovely and PT Sir

Jivan is a young muslim woman who is wrongly accused of aiding terrorists in firebombing a train when she was only carrying a parcel of old school books for Lovely. Lovely is a Hijra who is set on pursuing her career as an actress who is being taught English by Jivan. PT Sir is a PT teacher who used to teach Jivan and is now intent soon becoming politician in the opposition party.

Some ill advised social media activity puts Jivan in the frame for the firebombing when the police cannot trace the perpetrators. Someone has to be responsible and it looks as if it will be Jivan, both Lovely and PT Sir are witnesses for the defence. As the narrative evolves you wonder whether either will stand up for Jivan, leading to a good twist at the end.

Burning is a compelling read which brings an insight into the under class in Calcutta and the corruption of local politics. Read it!

This is the story of three interconnected people. At the center, we have Jivan, a muslim girl who gets charged of being involved in a train bombing. To say her life has been difficult is to put it mildly. Through the interviews she gives to a journalist we hear an account of her life, her sacrifices and dreams.
The other two characters are PT Sir, Jivan's old teacher who helped her when her family was struggling and who has now become a politician.
The third character is Lovely, a hijra from the same slum as Jivan. She wants to be an actress, so she was learning English from Jivan before her arrest. Lovely puts her all hard-earned money into acting classes hoping that she will someday be discovered and become a movie star.

The story talks about these three characters, but it's much more than that. It depicts life and politics in India. It's a story about how power corrupts people, how the poor live, how friendships are affected by life choices. The characters are greatly defined and there's development (for better or worse) in all of them.

I loved this book. The three points of view are clearly distinct from each other. I was at first a bit confused, but quickly got into it. Lovely's style grew on me, although at the beginning I found her use of grammar a bit annoying. By the middle of the book I couldn't get enough of her!

All in all, an exceptional debut novel.

“Many years ago I would have been asking why is this happening? But now I am knowing that there is no use asking these questions. In life, many things are happening for no reason at all.”

A Burning follows Jivan, Lovely and PT Sir whose lives are inextricably linked and a single event causes major change in all of their lives. After a terrorist attack on her local station, Jivan is accused of assisting the terrorists after she posts a controversial opinion online. Her alibi is Lovely, an aspiring actress who she was helping to teach English. And as Jivan falls, imprisoned and facing the court of public opinion, her old teacher PT Sir is experiencing a monumental rise as he becomes affiliated with a political party. We follow the three characters over the course of Jivan's imprisonment and trial, as the decisions they make impact one another.

A Burning was unlike anything I have ever read before and truly pushed me out of my comfort zone. It forced me to examine a justice system I'm unfamiliar with, a situation of political unrest I'm lucky to have never experienced, and found me wondering what exactly I would do in each of these characters' situations. All three of these characters made decisions that I could see were perhaps not the best, but I found myself unable to blame them for doing so. All three were just trying to do the best for themselves they could in a system that was set up to punish those who dare to be different.

Each of the characters was so richly written that I felt I knew them very well by the end of it, I could see where their paths were heading and I felt unable to look away. The ending still hit me like a brick though, I knew what the inevitable outcome was but still. like our characters, I dared to hope for something better.

Instantly absorbing, and a really interesting portrayal of how politics and personal circumstances change your choices, ethics and morals

I read an ARC via Netgalley

Told by alternating narrators the story centres on a young woman accused of a terrorist act. She is jailed based on little more than evidence that she was at the train station. We gradually learn how she came to live in the city, the story of her family's poverty. A hijra*, Lovely, tells her story of exclusion and of ambition to be an actress. And "PT Sir" (he's a sports teacher) gives his account of climbing the greasy pole of politics, witnessing abject poverty, promising much and supporting communal violence. Although Lovely offers some light relief with her wonderful ambition in the face of almost universal ridicule, there are no happy endings here. Majumdar looks directly at poverty and corruption and creates a narrative that asks hard questions about all those who choose not to see those suffering from bad government. Sometimes I felt as though I was reading from behind my fingers and had to put the book down for a bit. So not a light read by any means. But a powerful one.

"When Bimala Pal speaks next, he understands that she has known what happened all along.

If anybody asks, she tells him, PT Sir is to say that the unstable brick house in which the man was living collapsed. It spontaneously collapsed. And how does PT Sir know? He was doing a rally nearby. It is true that the house did collapse—when the party wrecked it with hammer and ax. It is true that the house did fall upon a man who died.

All of that is true, Bimala Pal reminds him, a gentle smile on her face."

I liked the story but in the end it wasn't for me. I think my issue was with the writing style, i just couldn't get into the story and i had a difficult time enjoying this book

Megha Majumdar’s ‘A Burning’ is an incredibly powerful debut. While the book follows three very different characters – Jivan, a poor Muslim girl from the slums, Lovely, an outcast wishing to become an actress, and PT Sir, a teacher – it is Jivan’s story that frames ‘A Burning’. Her story is affected by Lovely and PT Sir, her life in the powers of those who can affect her future.

All stories in the book are powerful and give the reader a great insight into the culture and politics of India. They all are also incredibly painful and heartbreaking. ‘A Burning’ is not an easy read, and it took me longer to read than expected, but it handles heavy topics well.

In the beginning, I wasn’t convinced about the interchanging narration, with Jivan speaking to us in the first person, and the others not, but the changing and shifting narration and portrayal of the story in Megha Majumdar’s debut underlined the numerous voices and diverse stories features in ‘A Burning’.

While painful at moments, I would definitely recommend reading ‘A Burning’. While Lovely was probably my favourite character in the book, it is Jivan’s story that will stay with me for a long time.

This is beautifully written and a powerful story. Set in India, Jivan witnesses a terrorist attack on a train and foolishly writes a Facebook message critical of the government. She is then caught up in the aftermath of the attack as the government looks for someone to blame. Told through three separate narrators they have very different voices and it is sobering to see how self interest trumps the truth.

I’m jumping on the bandwagon with this one!

A Burning, which will probably sound familiar to some readers as it’s currently on most best of the year lists, is a brilliant debut from Megha Majumdar. Set in India it follows three characters. Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, accused of aiding a terrorist train attack because of a flyaway comment posted on social media. PT Sir is a P.E. teacher who suddenly finds himself rising within the ranks of a right-wing political party. Lovely is an aspiring actress, looking for her big break. All three of these characters are connected and more importantly, both Lovely and PT Sir could be the key to setting Jivan free.

There is an instant connection and understanding of the characters in this book, both those likable and those not. The powerlessness of Jivan’s situation is incredibly effective and feels frighteningly real. With PT Sir, you feel like you’re in the crowd when he jumps up on stage ad wait with bated breath to see what happens next. And with Lovely, you just want to see her dreams come true.

The writer is tackling and addressing a huge range of themes and issues and for a relatively short book, instead of feeling unfinished or stretched, it is instead powerful and fast moving, in parts reading like a thriller.

It’s a powerful debut, and I look forward to seeing what Majumdar writes next.

A Burning was published in the US in June of this year. It will be published in the UK on 21 January, 2021. My thanks to Netgalley and Scribner UK for my advance copy.

There has been much said about this novel; from glowing reviews to heavy criticism. Personally, I find myself sat in a central position - parts were enjoyable and others lost my interest.

Jivan's opening commentary on Facebook sets an excellent hook for the rest of the novel; her 'implication' in the crime and her own comments against the government made for an interesting central plot point and some burning commentary from the author's point of view about her home country's political structure. Admittedly, I don't have a strong working knowledge of the systems in play but I am aware of the cultural, religious and political binaries at work in the novel through previous experiences. Perhaps for those less familiar with Indian literature, this book may be more difficult to get to grips with.

Personally, there was a quality to the style that I found I couldn't get into; I didn't feel absorbed in the story, almost watching from a surface level. I didn't find it gripping or suspenseful as others have indicated. Perhaps this is because I found myself more often reading between the lines and thinking about the bigger themes at play - self expression, femininity, power struggle, reputation, but to name a few. Because this novel is so short, it felt to me that some of the things left unsaid have played on my mind more. Despite this, the writing is accessible and, because of the short length, it is an easy book to read in one sitting as I did. A testament to its interesting characters and pacing.

Out of the trio of perspectives followed, I found PT Sir's most engaging. At first his character didn't seem as clear as Jivan's or Lovely's but, as the story developed, his choices became the most interesting and critical. His hunger for power in a strangely submissive way was such an interesting assent to read; was his success worth it at the cost of Jivan's reputation? The culmination of the ending felt powerful and moving, and was worth continuing through this novel to reach.

Overall, an enjoyable read that I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience but this isn't a book I can see myself returning to to read time again. Despite this, it has prompted lots of conversations which I feel is the desired aim of a book and will hopefully continue to do so for other readers.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this arc.

A simple, ill-advised facebook comment starts a domino effect that almost instantly transforms the life of Jivan, Lovely and PT Sir. Although a simple enough story, the Burning by Megha Majumdar tackles a lot of subjects taboo for public discussion in India such as terrorism and its aftermath, the rampant Islamophobia that’s currently gripping the nation, sensationalistic tendencies of today’s media, the openly corrupt political parties and utterly gullible citizens.

The novel’s characters shine off the page, each as distinct as they can be from one another. Jivan’s story is one of fear. Her fears of a lifetime of insurmountable poverty, a life of oppression and, later on in the story, a life of being marked a terrorist and staying a prisoner. Just like the flame of a long-burning candle slowly dying out, you can feel the hopeful Jivan slowly lose her optimism with every new chapter.

On the other hand, Megha masterfully shows the price of freedom and success with the other characters. The hope that deserts Jivan suddenly floods the life of Lovely and PT Sir. They are given fame and opportunities they never imagined before - at a small cost, of course. The rest, I’d leave for you to read and find out.

However, the novel is not without its flaws. The bad grammar, the odd use of POV and tense makes it really hard to be fully immersed in the story. While I do understand that it was a stylistic choice to depict character voices, it did disrupt the reading experience, pulling me out of the story many times over.

Poignant and timely, The Burning is a book that must be read, particularly in today’s social climate. Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for the ARC.

Brilliant debut novel.

This was such a fantastic read with such diverse, three-dimensional characters and themes ranging from terrorism to transgender identity to Islamaphobia. The story follows the three completely different protagonists as they navigate poverty, racism and life’s everyday struggles in India.

Aside from the excellent writing and superbly diverse characters and plot, I found that this novel gave such an interesting insight into Indian culture, as well as an intensely thought provoking exploration of human nature. A must read.

What a lovely debut! The premise is very intereseting and relevant and I loved the authors choice for 3 narrators. Jivan was my favorite. This book really took me to India and I enjoyed Reading it a lot.