I’ve been hearing
a lot of great things about A Burning by Megha Majumdar for the past year, so I
recommended it for the Rogue Book Club pick for April. We read it and met to discuss it a few weeks
ago. We met in person for the first time
in forever as everyone is now fully vaccinated.
I was the sole person not complete with the series as everyone else is a
teacher or nurse in the club and was higher up on the list!
A terrorist attack
on a train in India has killed over one hundred people. The police focus in on Jivan, a Muslim girl
that lives in the slums after she posts an ill-thought-out remark on Facebook. As Jivan is arrested, her story is told
through her viewpoint and two other viewpoints - PT Sir and Lovely. PT Sir was Jivan’s gym teacher but finds
himself rising in a political party by helping to cause Jivan’s downfall. Lovely is a hijra and dreams of becoming a
Bollywood star. Jivan was teaching her
how to read and Lovely is her alibi. If
Lovely comes forward, how will that affect her career? As the three lives intertwine, will the truth
come out?
I was not sure
what a hijra was when I started this book and I had to look it up. It’s “in the West, she would likely identify
as a transgender woman, but in India she falls into a category of the gender
ambiguous who earn a living by begging and giving blessings at weddings.” (From
Chicago Review of Books). I thought
Lovely’s story was very intriguing as I had not previously read anything about
hijra and how they function in Indian society.
It was also an interesting discussion point at our book club. The story was choppy and not a happy one, but
it was very interesting how the story set in a different country parallels what
is happening in the United States currently.
We saw parallels both with the treatment of Transgender people and in
the justice system. I read Just Mercy last year and I felt like the treatment
of Jivan in this book was unfortunately the treatment that many people of color
receive in the United States.
Favorite Quote:
“It is true that
there is a lot about life that the law misses.”
Overall, A Burning
is a great read about justice and corruption in modern day India that parallels
current events in the United States.
Book Source: Borrowed from the Kewaunee Public Library –
Thank-you!
