A History of Burning

Dec 2, 2025 1:54 AM

Author:Janika Oza

***THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER***

***A SARAH JESSICA PARKER BOOK OF THE YEAR***

FOUR GENERATIONS. THREE SISTERS. ONE DIVIDED NATION.

'Remarkable, haunting, symphonic' New York Times

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 hope of a better life. But their granddaughters come of age in a divided nation. Latika falls headlong into the student protest movement, Mayuri's ambitions take her far from home, while Kiya's friendship with a Black Ugandan boy threatens them both.

Finally forced to flee, the family scatters across the world. They take with them a favourite rolling pin, a handful of photos, and a secret - that one day, will help them find each other again.

'Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury' Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning

Reviews

A remarkable debut . . . skillfully interrogates sweeping themes of survival, inheritance, immigration, colonialism and racism . . . Oza's narrative traverses almost a century of time, four generations of family, five continents and multiple languages . . . The result is a haunting, symphonic tale that speaks to the nuanced complexities of class and trauma

—— S Kirk Walsh , New York Times

An ambitious, powerful read, it will transport you through time and across the globe, with a story that you won't forget

—— Glamour, *Best Books for May*

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

[A] highly accomplished debut novel... a multi-stranded, intergenerational, poly-vocal epic that charts the struggles of an Indian family over the course of almost a century

—— Economist

Deborah Levy's hazy, dreamlike novels, often set in sun-drenched Mediterranean backdrops, are an essential accompaniment to any summer holiday . . . a lyrical, surreal trip of self discovery - one that is full of Levy's wit and curious images

—— Leila Slimani , i

A meditation on artistic creativity that is sensual, enigmatic and strangely addictive

—— Financial Times 'What to Read this Summer'

Levy is no stranger to the uncanny. Her novels teem with oddness, with dreamlike, vertiginous scenes

—— Lara Pawson , Times Literary Supplement

Levy's elegantly ludic investigation into selfhood, mother love and meaning

—— Guardian, '2023 Summer Reads'

Levy fans will delight in August Blue’s heady exploration of female creativity

—— Financial Times, 'Best Books of 2023'

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