Book Blurb:
In a near-future Kolkata, 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.
My Review: 3.5 stars
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar is a book not to take lightly. It takes place in Mumbai, where the city is being massively affected by a climate crisis, aka oppressive heat and famine.
One of the main characters, Ma (the guardian), needs a climate visa for her, her daughter and father to get to the states to be with her husband who is already in Michigan. The story starts with her getting these precious documents and Boomba (the thief) who steals her purse for money and inadvertently steals her visas.
This is a story of desperation and delves into the moral ambiguity that these characters are struggling with to save each of their families. It’s incredibly heartbreaking and filled with scenes that nod toward hope, yet it’s always lost. It shows how far we’d go to save and protect our loved ones. It’s also a book that forewarns the dangers of climate crisis. Is it eco-fiction? Maybe.
Is it borderline sci-fi? Maybe that too. I don’t know, but what I do know is that the ending was abrupt and harsh. I know many feel that this had a perfect ending, but for me, I wanted some happiness for the characters. I can surmise that maybe she’ll write a sequel and that’s why she ended it as she did.
Quotes I liked:
But pity was not a relationship. It was the rejection of a relationship.”
“Perhaps the true adventure was not only in seeing the world but also in seeing the versions of one’s own self that the journey revealed.”
