NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE Megha Majumdars electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning, is set in a near-future Kolkata, India in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other. A piercing and propulsive tour de force.

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK

Wondering if theres a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthys The Road a run for its money? Here you go. Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life

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 Mas 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 Mas 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 Mas 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. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic 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 childrens future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.

A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.

224 pages