Megha Majumdar is the author of the novel A Guardian and a Thief, which won the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, was named a Finalist for the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize, and was selected for Oprah’s Book Club. Her debut novel, the New York Times bestseller A Burning, was Longlisted for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal. It was a TODAY show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick and a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick. Majumdar is the recipient of a Whiting Award, as well as fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri and Hawthornden foundations. Born and raised in Kolkata, India, and educated at Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University, she now lives in New York.
Book Festival Author
Megha Majumdar
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A Guardian and a Thief: A Novel
In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.
Set over the course of one week, "A Guardian and a Thief" tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.
A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.
