The book you're looking for is "A Guardian and a Thief" by Megha Majumdar. It was published on October 14, 2025, in the U.S. by Knopf. The U.K. edition will follow on January 29, 2026.
This novel is indeed a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction, a significant literary honor. It has also recently been shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.
🌍 Plot, Setting, and Themes
The novel is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by the effects of climate change, including severe flooding and famine. The story unfolds over a single week and follows two families whose lives collide after a desperate theft.
- The Central Conflict: The plot is triggered when “Ma,” who is days away from moving her family to Ann Arbor, Michigan, has her purse stolen. This purse contains their precious and hard-won immigration documents, without which their escape from the collapsing city is impossible.
- Dual Narrative: The story is told from two perspectives: that of “Ma,” who frantically searches for the thief while trying to stave off hunger, and that of “Boomba,” the thief, whose own desperate need to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes.
- Social Commentary: True to Majumdar’s style, the novel is described as a piercing exploration of justice, survival, and moral complexity. It paints a 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.”
✍️ The Author and Her Debut Novel
Megha Majumdar is an Indian author based in New York City. Her debut novel, "A Burning," was a New York Times bestseller and was longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award, establishing her as a major literary voice.
"A Burning" is a politically charged thriller set in contemporary India. It begins with a terrorist attack on a train and follows the interlocking stories of three characters: Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums wrongly accused of the crime; PT Sir, her former teacher who is seduced by a rising right-wing political party; and Lovely, a transgender aspiring actress who is Jivan’s student. The novel was widely acclaimed for its sharp social commentary and propulsive narrative.
The table below summarizes the key differences between her two novels:
| Feature | "A Burning" (Debut) | "A Guardian and a Thief" (Forthcoming) |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Contemporary India | Near-future Kolkata, dystopian |
| Central Plot | A terrorist attack and wrongful accusation | A theft of immigration documents amid famine |
| Primary Themes | Right-wing politics, injustice, social media | Climate change, migration, scarcity, survival |
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