For the summer newsletter, we decided to highlight a work of fiction.

 “All I am guilty of, Purnendu, listen – all I am guilty of is being a coward.” – Jivan, p. 187

Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, A Burning, is classified in the “Mystery, Suspense and Thriller” category online, but this story is more about the three characters who narrate the book than about the trial at the center of the novel. As events unfold, each grapples with who they want to be and how they are viewed by society. They are faced with choices that test their convictions, commitments, and courage. While there are large, defining moments for each character, the book as a whole shows the ways in which the everyday decisions we make ultimately inform who we choose to be at decisive moments. On the other hand, the book also details sweeping systems of injustice so vividly that readers are likely to wonder, along with the characters, whether cowardice or courage even matter. This is, as labeled, a fast-paced book; it is not “light” summer reading. The fire in Majumdar’s novel shines light on some extremely dark places, and those images will remain seared in the reader’s imagination long after the last page of A Burning.