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Megha Majumdar

Biography

Megha Majumdar

Megha Majumdar is the author of two bestselling novels.

A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF is an Oprah’s Book Club pick, a finalist for the Carol Shields Prize, the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award, longlisted for the Women’s Prize, and the winner of the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF is also a New York Times notable book, a Washington Post notable book, and one of the 10 best books of the year per The Atlantic and TIME Magazine.

Her debut novel, A BURNING, was a "Read with Jenna" Book Club pick and longlisted for the National Book Award, among other honors.

Majumdar is a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow. Her work also has been supported by the Whiting, Civitella Ranieri and Hawthornden foundations. Born and raised in Kolkata, India, she now lives in New York. 

Megha Majumdar

Books by Megha Majumdar

A Guardian and a Thief
by Megha Majumdar - Fiction

In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s 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 Ma’s 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 Ma’s 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, the consequences of which he cannot fathom.

A Burning
by Megha Majumdar - Fiction, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely --- an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the novel with warmth, hope and humor --- has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear.