Summary: Shaken after witnessing a deadly terrorist attack, Jivan, a young Muslim woman from the slums of Kolabagan, impulsively posts on Facebook criticizing the police and the government’s response to the attack. With the actual terrorists proving elusive, the government finds an easy scapegoat in Jivan and takes her into custody. As the investigations unfold while Jivan is isolated behind bars, her story and her fate belong to others – those who once knew her and those who seek to profit from her.
PT Sir, Jivan’s former physical-training teacher, who once fed the girl when her family couldn’t afford to and saw her as his protege, feels the excitement and ambition that had dulled in his time as a school teacher reawaken at a right-wing political party’s rally. When their leader takes an interest in him, PT Sir sees the path to be something more – someone powerful– open before him. But the party’s promise to be tough on crime and to push for swift justice from the courts demands that he condemn Jivan to step onto that path.
Lovely, a hijra on the edges of society, with an irrepressible enthusiasm for acting and dreams of Bollywood fame, finally gets her big break at the same time Jivan’s case whips up a fervor across the country. She knows the truth of why Jivan was at the site of the attack, which holds the power to set her free, but involving herself in such a high-profile case could cost her her dreams.
Along with the jaded court-appointed lawyer juggling a hundred cases, the journalists twisting Jivan’s story into whatever garners attention, and the politicians jumping to profit on anything that’s caught the public eye, Lovely and PT Sir characters find Jivan’s future in their hands, and their morals pitted against their ambitions, while Jivan can only wait and watch her own life slip from her control.
Reflections: A Burning was agonizing in the best way. Increasingly towards the end, I would reach the end of a chapter and think, ‘if I just stop now, I can still imagine a happy ending,’ but I’m glad I never did.
It was a deeply political story touching on issues of poverty, corruption, nationalism, religious discrimination, trans issues, and more, all tied to the central theme of how morals can become compromised, and other people can be sacrificed to reach a better life.
I often dreaded PT Sir’s chapters as he fell further into right-wing politics. He was exactly the type of man who I could imagine taking that path, from the moment, in his first chapter, when his response to Jivan disappearing from his school without a goodbye or a thank you was anger and to reframe her as an ungrateful leech on his goodwill, rather than worry for her. His disregard for the female teachers he worked with and the sense that his disillusionment was unique from anyone around him only added to it. But he was far from a flat caricature or a simple villain. He was often just a man who wanted to do good, but also wanted recognition, power, and money, and the latter won out over the former. He was a teacher who quietly provided food for an impoverished student, no strings attached. He was a politician who genuinely wanted his party to favor improving conditions for teachers and students over focusing on using the education system to push propaganda. But he craved recognition and power; he desired to be looked on by others as someone who had earned a place above them. And that won out. He allowed himself to be the man who would give false testimony that ruined lives for money and who would consign a young woman to death to advance his political career. His descent throughout the book as he threw himself in with the Jana Kalyan Party and increasingly lied to himself to avoid facing the choice between his promising career and his morals head-on was frustrating and compelling in equal measures. There were so many points– points that he recognized as well– where he could have turned back.
Lovely added a dimension to that story of corruption by showing similar temptations from a wholly different perspective. She could not have been more different from PT Sir. Where he was financially comfortable and socially privileged, but bored of the monotony of his life and ready to be swept up in anything more exciting, Lovely was poor and disdained by society, kicked out of her parents house for being a hijra and living as part of a hijra community in which she begged and offered blessings for a living, but possessed a vivacity and internal drive that never let her stagnate. She held more tightly to her morals, but the consequences for her were much higher. Her temptation was closer to a struggle for survival, a better life right on the horizon if she would just abandon another poor, vilified woman. I wish I knew more about the hijra community to be able to say if she was a good or bad representation, but she was certainly an interesting character to see and something of a look at hijra communities.
Warnings: Depictions of transphobia, misgendering, unsafe/botched bottom surgery.
Notes on Rep: Lovely identifies on-page as a hijra and a woman.
A Burning
Megha Majumdar
Adult Fiction, 2020, 320 pg
Muslim Indian female MC; Indian hijra transgender female MC
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.
5. A book written in South Asia: A Burning by Megha Majumdar
List Progress: 14/30
Everyone wants to make some mark on the world; to find some foothold to let them work towards prominence. But so often in this world, getting somewhere involves stepping on people along the way, a conundrum which is painfully and deliberately portrayed in Megha Majumdar’s 2020 debut novel A Burning.
A deadly terrorist attack takes place at a train station, and a poor young Muslim woman named Jivan is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had nothing to do with the attack, but when she makes a mildly subversive comment on Facebook, she becomes the police’s scapegoat. Among her potential defenders are her former gym teacher, PT Sir, and a hijra she has been tutoring in English, Lovely, but both of them have their own goals that would be compromised by ties with an accused terrorist. PT Sir is being pulled under the sway of a nationalist political party, Lovely is trying to make a name for herself as a film star, and neither of them want to let sentiment stand in the way of their chances for a better life. It is a deeply cynical way to view the world, but Majumdar shows every step of their decisions and lets the reader walk in their shoes. You want to say you would be better than that, but how many of us really are, when confronted with those circumstances?
The three main characters, Jivan, PT Sir and Lovely, alternate points of view, with occasional interludes with side characters to give an even wider perspective on contemporary Kolkata. Jivan and Lovely have a very personal narration style and different vocal inflections, but strangely, PT Sir’s chapters are told in the third-person instead of the first, which feels like an odd stylistic choice. But the prose moves smoothly and quickly, taking you swiftly through subject matter that could be overwhelming at a slower pace.
There are no easy answers in A Burning, and it can be a difficult book to read if your own faith in humanity has taken a beating lately. But these stories about corruption, poverty, incarceration and choices are important, no matter where you live.
Readers, it’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? It’s hard to believe we’re even ready to talk about our favorite fiction and nonfiction books of the year. Many of us, and many of you, have found books to be a welcome escape, reading our way through all this year has thrown at us. Traditionally the staff compiles a list of the ten fiction and ten nonfiction titles from the year - the books that reminded us why we love to read so much and show us the power of the written word. Here I offer you a little appetizer to whet your appetite:
I’ll start by briefly mentioning my own personal favorite of 2020, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. I wrote about this back in June, and haven’t read or listened to anything since that I’ve found to be so surprising, immersive and thought-provoking. I’m not alone, it’s also a best of the year pick from Nancy and Laurie, as well as a New York Times Bestseller, a Good Morning America Book Club pick, and long listed for the National Book Award.
A close second in the fiction category, for me, is Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, which both Nancy and Caitlin also loved. At first glance it’s a difficult sell since the story revolves around the illness and death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, from the plague. The subject matter gave me a little hesitation before starting, but once I did I was so glad I picked it up. The first thing I noticed was the exquisite writing. Maggie O’Farrell’s ability to create a fully realized environment is phenomenal. A writer with this gift grounds me in the story to the degree that I can see and feel the places they are describing. The fact that I listened to the audio book only deepened this experience. The second thing that drew me in was the psychological awareness of her characters. With a non-linear narrative, we move in and out from the progression of the illness over the course of a few days, to the meeting, courtship, and marriage of Shakespeare (never named in the narrative as such) and Agnes. The ending is perfection. Give this to the historical fiction lovers in your life.
Nancy says: “Beautifully written, this creative reimagining of Shakespeare’s family and their home life, and the searing loss of a child is engrossing and moving. Five stars!!”
Both Nancy and Caitlin chose A Burning by Megha Majumdar. A debut novel, Read With Jenna Book Club Pick, and long listed for the National Book Award, this is a deeply personal and of-the-moment story from the Indian-born Majumdar, who was concerned with shining a light on the rise of right-wing nationalism in India.
Nancy says: “A tour de force from a new author, A Burning reads like a wry thriller while dissecting the realities of modern India and our human frailty when confronted with survival and moral choices. Told from three perspectives - Jivan, a plucky Muslim clerk from the slums who becomes a convenient scapegoat for a terrorist attack, and two who could help her - PT Sir, a gym teacher with political aspirations and Lovely, an intersex actress with Bollywood dreams - Majumdar’s characters have incredible original voices. I loved the writing and I couldn’t put it down!”
For a nonfiction pick, Caitlin highly recommends World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. She says, “I read World of Wonders early on in the pandemic. Whenever I needed a lift I treated myself to an essay. An engaging and beautifully illustrated collection of essays about nature and finding a place to call your own. One of my favorite books of 2020.” This sounds like the perfect book to keep on your nightstand and dip into before bed.
For those of you who have younger readers in your life (or just like reading from the YA, Middle Grade and picture book sections like I do), our children’s specialist, Lillian, has already created “piles” of the best of 2020 for all the different categories of readers in the children’s area. You can preview some on our website. YA readers, you’ll see lots of my favorites from this year, including Legendborn by Tracy Deonn!
This is only a taste of a few fiction and nonfiction titles that will make up our Island Books Best of 2020 list - the full list will be out at the beginning of December!
He stormed inside the house with James hot on his heels.
“Why can’t you believe me?” he asked over his shoulder, trying to keep his voice at a normal decibel. James stepped inside behind him, slamming the door shut.
“Because you told me how you felt,” replied James in earnest. “How you feel.”
Thomas closed his eyes and sighed. How had they gotten here?
“It was how I felt,” he said, turning around. James still stood in front of the door, arms open and face flushed.
“But it isn’t something that I meant to be acted upon,” Thomas added quickly. He was actually gesturing at James, hands flailing up and down. He had only ever gotten upset enough to do that around his father.
“But Thomas,” James pleaded, “You must know that in this case no amount of treatises or good intentions will change that place or the countless places like it.”
Thomas gritted his teeth together. “Do not presume to tell me what I must and must not know. I am not some crew member you can manipulate.”
James looked taken aback and the words burned down Thomas’s throat. But then the anger returned to his lover’s face.
“I do not mean to manipulate,” said James. “But that man and that place deserve to be burnt to the ground! And if I could I would do the same to that fucking asylum in London!”
