A Burning: A novel

"Megha Majumdar, its brilliant author, moved to New York, where she’s an editor, from India. Burning is about social hierarchy and your place in it. Megha talks about the rise of fundamentalism, specifically Hindu nationalism, in India. She talks about the fear-mongering, corruption, and poverty in India that crushes dreams. Megha dissects the cruelty of the rise of fascism. Burning is about a transgender character who gets portrayed as an extremist based on something she posts on Facebook. She becomes a scapegoat. There are parallels to America which make the book feel very relevant. Characters in both books we’ve talked about so far are in situations where everything is hanging by a thread. Precariousness is a common theme."