A Guardian and a Thief

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OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “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.”—Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life Megha Majumdar’s electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning, is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, where two families must battle each other to protect their children. Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are about to leave the collapsing city for Ann Arbor, Michigan, after receiving long-awaited visas. However, they awaken one morning to find that Ma’s purse, containing their immigration documents, has been stolen. Over the course of one week, the narrative unfolds in two parallel stories: Ma’s frantic search for the thief amid a worsening food shortage, and Boomba, the thief, whose desperate actions to care for his family lead to unforeseen consequences. With stunning control, Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families driven by love and hope, revealing how far they will go to secure their children’s futures amid impending catastrophe. A masterful work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.