Archive for May, 2020

‘Burning’ by Megha Majumdar

May 27th, 2020

WHO: Megha Majumdar

WHAT: A BURNING, a novel

WHEN: Published by Knopf June 2, 2020

WHERE: The author lives in New York.

WHY: “An electrifying debut.
“For the first time in her young life, Jivan has her own cellphone, which she bought with money earned by working as a shopgirl, having left high school after barely passing her tenth-form exams. After witnessing a gruesome train-station attack during her 15-minute walk home to the slums, she continues to follow events on Facebook. And then Jivan does ‘a foolish thing . . . a dangerous thing, immaturely hoping to multiply her “likes” by responding to a post: if the police watched them die, . . . doesn’t that mean that the government is also a terrorist?’
“Days later, Jivan has been beaten and jailed, accused of terrorism, effectively condemned without a trial. The two people who could possibly save her — a trans woman to whom Jivan was attempting to teach English, and her former PE teacher, who recognized her athletic prowess-have other priorities: dreams of film stardom for Lovely, a political future for PT Sir. Still holding on to her innocence, Jivan entrusts her story to a hungry journalist. Salvation seems possible, even narrowly so, over and over again, until it’s not.
“Kolkata-born and Harvard- and Johns Hopkins-educated book editor Megha Majumdar presents an electrifying debut that serves as a barometer measuring the seeming triviality of human life and the fragility of human connections.”
—Terry Hong, in a starred review for BOOKLIST

“An audacious debut…a memorable, impactful work.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“A polyphonic novel that sharply observes class and religious divisions in India.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS

Jacket photo



Media Resources:
About the book and author | Read an excerpt | Download the jacket | Download the author photo


Knopf.
293 pages. $25.95 ISBN 978-0-525-65869-6

To interview the author, contact: Gabrielle Brooks | 212-572-2152 | gbrooks@penguinrandomhouse.com