A Burning by Megha Majumdar

Friday, Feb. 4, 2022--San Antonio

A Burning by Megha Majumdar is set in India is shares some characteristics of other Indian novels and short stories by a number writers such a Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, and Kiran Desai in that it tells the story of the suffering of the poor of India and the corruption within the government there.  This particular story ties the two together by telling the story of 4 main characters--a young student from a very poor family who is intelligent and has great prospects in life, a female politician whose party is trying to win the next election no matter what the costs or consequences, a PE teacher from the young student's school who sees her potential but becomes involved in the corrupt party of the politician, and a hijra (a transgender male-to-female) who has joined with other hijras, as is typical in India, to live as a group and make a living by blessing weddings, births, etc., who is being tutored in English by the young students, and who is taking acting classes with the dream of becoming a movie star.  People get caught up in lies and corruption due to their desires to have a better life.  The book is an easy read.  And I could appreciate the style of the wording used because it matches the patterns that are common by Indians who speak English as a second language (meaning that the organization of the words often fits the pattern that the words are organized in the Indian languages rather than what is the normal organization within formal English).  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.