A History of Burning
The perfect summer read for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and PachinkoSelect a format:
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Summary
***THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER***
FOUR GENERATIONS. THREE SISTERS. ONE DIVIDED NATION.
'Remarkable, haunting, symphonic' New York Times
Tricked aboard a boat to East Africa, Pirbhai is only thirteen when he is forced by the British into labouring on the railway. Under sweltering heat, hungry and frightened, he commits a terrible act just to survive.
He will never tell a soul, even when he meets Sonal, a fierce, loving woman with whom he starts a family in hope of a better life. But their granddaughters come of age in a divided nation. Latika falls headlong into the student protest movement, Mayuri's ambitions take her far from home, while Kiya's friendship with a Black Ugandan boy threatens them both.
Finally forced to flee, the family scatters across the world. They take with them a favourite rolling pin, a handful of photos, and a secret - that one day, will help them find each other again.
'Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury' Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
Reviews
A remarkable debut . . . skillfully interrogates sweeping themes of survival, inheritance, immigration, colonialism and racism . . . Oza's narrative traverses almost a century of time, four generations of family, five continents and multiple languages . . . The result is a haunting, symphonic tale that speaks to the nuanced complexities of class and trauma
S Kirk Walsh, New York Times