LoveReading Says
Janika Oza’s A History of Burning is the kind of ambitious, accomplished debut that fans of family-centred historic fiction will be excited by, and left feeling excited to see what the writer does next.
Recommended for readers who loved Half of a Yellow Sun, it follows four generations from 1898 through to the 1990s, from India to Canada, taking in the tides of colonialism and political change through a family you come to feel close to.
The story begins in India in 1898, when thirteen-year-old Pirbhai leaves home on the basis of an ambiguous promise of finding work. He has nothing, but hopes for everything. A pivotal moment comes when Pirbhai meets Sonal in her father’s store in Kenya. Their lives become inextricably bound when they journey to Uganda, settle and have children. Later, their granddaughters are born into an era of tremendous turmoil. The nation is divided; the tension and dangers are palpable.
Through the women, and their remarkable relationship with their grandparents, and through the family’s dispersal around the world, in search of a safe home, we witness global shifts and survival. We see unbreakable bonds, we’re swept into the pain of estrangement, and also the tides of hope.
Joanne Owen
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A History of Burning Synopsis
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A SARAH JESSICA PARKER BOOK OF THE YEAR
Four generations. Three sisters. One impossible choice.
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 Uganda, in hope of a better life. But their granddaughters come of age in a divided nation.
Finally forced to flee, the family scatters across the world. They take with them a steel pot, a handful of photos, and a secret - that one day, will help them find each other again.
A History of Burning is a gorgeous family portrait of love, survival, inheritance - and the eternal search for home.
One family's search for a better life, for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and Pachinko
'A remarkable debut . . . haunting, symphonic' New York Times
'Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury . . . A book I want to press into readers' hands and discuss for hours' Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING
Shortlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781529921830 |
| Publication date: |
2nd May 2024 |
| Author: |
Janika Oza |
| Publisher: |
Vintage an imprint of Random House |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
400 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Historical Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Janika Oza Press Reviews
In intimate domestic scenes and scenes of societies in turmoil, [Oza] displays a sure-handed ability to write at both small and large scale and to portray with deep sympathy the universal human desire to find a little place to simply exist, freely, and with dignity. An ambitious family drama skilfully explores the bonds of kinship and the yearning for peace and security - Kirkus (starred review)
[An] impressive debut - Publisher's Weekly
This striking epic combines powerful characters of different generations, compelling storytelling, dramatic settings and conflicts, and thoughtful explorations of displacement and belonging, family ties, citizenship, loyalty, loss, and resilience - Booklist (starred review)
A riveting testament to home, exile, survival, and inheritance -- Lisa Ko, author of THE LEAVERS As transfixing as a flame -- Rachel Khong, author of GOODBYE, VITAMIN A
History of Burning is that rare epic that manages to retain both its sweep and its intimacy... This is a beautiful book, unflinching yet deeply engaged -- Omar El Akkad, author of AMERICAN WAR
[Oza's] writing reminds people that vulnerability and openness are the only ways we can save each other. A History of Burning is the art we need now -- Megan Giddings, author of LAKEWOOD
An astonishing debut -- Shyam Selvadurai, author of MANSIONS OF THE MOON
Intimate and epic... this book is a triumph -- Shruti Swamy, author of THE ARCHER
Ambitious in scope and dazzlingly executed, A History of Burning is a marvelous debut. A tour de force -- Sharon Bala, author of THE BOAT PEOPLE -
