A review by lepasseportlitteraire
A Burning by Megha Majumdar

4.5

After a terrorist attack in a train, Jivan - a Muslim girl from the slums - unexpectedly finds herself accused of the attack. Rapidly brought to prison, she will do everything in her power to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, PT Sir - a gym teacher - is determined to join a right-wing political party and finds his ascending is linked to Jivan’s case. The same happen to Lovely, an exuberant outcasted actor who has the alibi to set Jivan free but it would cost her her success.

The characters made me held my breath throughout the pages, except for PT Sir who I absolutely hated (which I believe was the author intent). Capable to move, indignate, enrage and amuse, Megha Majumdar gifted us with a debut novel close to perfection that bring us into the streets of Indian slums while also exposing political hypocrisy and society injustice.

What is even more remarkable, is that « A burnin » is Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, setting the bar quite high for her next works which I am impatient to read.