A History of Burning: The perfect summer read for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and Pachinko

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An immersive, kaleidoscopic debut for fans of Homegoing and Pachinko- one family's search for a better life through four continents, four generations and a century of change. THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A SARAH JESSICA PARKER BOOK OF THE YEAR Four generations. Three sisters. One impossible choice. 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 Uganda, in hope of a better life. But their granddaughters come of age in a divided nation. Finally forced to flee, the family scatters across the world. They take with them a steel pot, a handful of photos, and a secret - that one day, will help them find each other again. A History of Burning is a gorgeous family portrait of love, survival, inheritance - and the eternal search for home. One family's search for a better life, for fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, Homegoing and Pachinko 'A remarkable debut . . . haunting, symphonic' New York Times 'Vast and intricate, alight with love and contained fury . . . A book I want to press into readers' hands and discuss for hours' Megha Majumdar, author of A BURNING

Reviews

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

Author Bio

Janika Oza is the winner of the 2022 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction, and the 2020 Kenyon Review Short Fiction Award. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications including The Best Small Fictions- 2019 Anthology and Catapult. She lives in Toronto. Website- janikaoza.com Twitter- @JanikaOza Instagram- @o.janika