A Guardian and a Thief

Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning, sets this novel in a near-future Kolkata destabilized by climate crisis and scarcity. As families scheme to secure passage to safer places, a theft sets several lives on a collision course, testing what people will do to protect their own. Taut and morally searching, the book is a 2025 Oprah’s Book Club selection about survival, ethics, and inequality.