A Burning | Megha Majumdar

'Immaculately constructed, acidly observed and gripping from start to finish, A Burning is a brilliant debut.' The Guardian'Megha Majumdar's A Burning is an uncanny debut, a fierce condemnation of modern India - the corruption, racism, misogyny, the feverish obsession with celebrity - this is the antithesis of shrill. The author, although still in her early thirties, has the composure of a mature artist, and has produced a political novel that makes its wider points through the subtle, intimate exploration of three characters' lives.' Sunday Times'This is a short, sharp shock of a novel that shows us how easy it is to rally a mob, to kill a Muslim woman and to silence a whole community. These are things we all know on paper, but the power of a great novelist - and Majumdar has a Dickensian flair and scope - is to transform what we simply know into something we can feel. What a treat to start the year with a talent as fresh as this' - The Times'A big hit in America last year, this buzzy debut about the impact of a terrorist attack in a Kolkata slum on three connected characters is full of hot-button global topics, including violent nationalism.' Metro'Powerful. [...] Majumdar's page-turning thriller seeks to open our eyes to the role of persecution in populist politics' - Mail on Sunday'An evocative insight into class, corruption, injustice and power dynamics, this poignant tale makes for memorable reading'Cosmopolitan'Majumdar conjures up three notably effervescent, intense voices' Daily Telegraph