It's near future Kolkata - flooding and famine. Ma, her two year old daughter, and her elderly father and prepare to leave for Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her husband is there and she is ready to start a new life. She has the all important visas in her purse. She is ready for a fresh future.
They go to sleep, but awaken to find her purse is gone. Dreams evaporated.
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar covers one week and two intertwined stories. The guardian, Ma, frantically searches for the thief. The thief, a desperate young man commits escalating crimes to care for his family. Food shortages and heat combine to enhance the battle.
How far will the guardian and thief go to save their families? The author paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope. It's tough to stave off encroaching catastrophe. (cover blurb)
This is a stunning book, beautifully written. There is a lot of tension. The author is empathetic to both sides of the tale and draws you in as the reader to an understanding of sorts.
p. 69 Perhaps it was her mind mixing up a variety of fear, an intruder who had molested the peace of her house, a crook who had taken what she most prized.
p. 177 The husband in Michigan thinking: The pride of having immigrated was also, in truth, the wound. Didn't they understand that? Didn't they understand that he wanted every opportunity to examine the wound?
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