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A Novel
by Megha Majumdar
Book Reviewed by:Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning—longlisted for the National Book Award—is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other. A piercing and propulsive tour de force.
In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, 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.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (5/14/2026)
I read two pretty heavy books in a row - 'Midnight, at War' by Devi S. Laskar and 'A Guardian and a Thief' by Megha Majumdar. Both are intense and set at least in part in Kolkata. 'A Guardian and a Thief' is for my IRL book group and I've already heard negative reviews from at least one member. N...
-Evonne_Benedict
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/30/2025)
kim.kovacs: https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/23042/a-guardian-and-a-thief A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar Kim I agree with you on Majumdar's new book, it's so profound and deep. I have had it on my mind for days and cannot stop thinking about it. I quit e...
-Jo_S
2025 National Book Awards Finalists Announced
Here's the list! Which ones have you read? Which are on your radar? Fiction : Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) Megha Majumdar, A Guardian and a Thief Karen Russell, The Antidote Ethan Rutherford, North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther Bryan Wa...
-kim.kovacs
Kirkus finalists announced!
...y (Mariner Books) https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780593730089 Isola by Allegra Goodman (Dial Press) https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780593804872 A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar ( Knopf) https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781668030707 The Slip by Lucas Schaefer (Simon & Schuster) https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781982122799...
-kim.kovacs
Majumdar has an amazing ability to put readers in her characters' shoes and feel their pain. Some of the situations each character endures are truly gut-wrenching; more than once I felt queasy as Ma's or Boomba's circumstances became dramatically worse... Majumdar imbues each of her characters with an intriguing moral ambiguity. It's clear early on that the question of who is the titular guardian and who is the thief is not a straightforward one—both characters assume both roles throughout the story...continued
Full Review
(678 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life
Wondering if there's a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy's The Road a run for its money? Here you go. [A Guardian and a Thief is] an indelible piece of writing, in equal parts dazzling and devastating.
Boomba, one of the protagonists of Megha Majumdar's A Guardian and a Thief, is living on the east coast of India with his family when their home becomes permanently flooded due to rising sea levels. Although the novel is set in the near future, this type of displacement is already occurring.
It's estimated that the oceans have risen by eight to nine inches (20 to 23 centimeters) since 1880, with the rate dramatically increasing in the past ten years. That may not sound like a huge amount, but small island nations such as Fiji and Tuvalu have already been impacted, and countries such as India, Bangladesh, China, and the Netherlands are at risk in the coming years. Nearly 900 million people in those nations are currently living in low-...
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