Review of the Day: A Guardian and a Thief

 Review of the Day: A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

Majumdar’s novel has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize and the book is just a little more than 200 pages. I was prepared to like this book before my kindle was done downloading it.

The story in a Guardian and a Thief takes place over seven days in Kolkata, India in the near future when climate change has made the city much hotter and economic inequality and poverty are severe problems. The main character in the story is Ma, her two year old daughter, Mishti, and her elderly father, Dadu. Ma’s husband has a research position at the University of Michigan (never named) in Ann Arbor and Ma plans to board a plane to join him in a few days. One of the stories repeated over and over from the ancient world to the present is that of the hero on a quest; in this case, a quest to go to the United States. As Ma says:

“It was a country of grocery stores as large as aircraft hangars, stocked with waxed fruit and misted vegetables and canned legumes from floor to ceiling. It was a country of breathable air and potable water, and, despite a history of attempts to cultivate a poorly educated electorate, functioning schools and tenacious thinkers. It was a country of encompassing hope, sustained by the people despite the peddlers of fear and pursuers of gain who wore the ill-fitting costumes of political representation. It was a country of opportunity for her child “(location 114).

However, the challenge in completing the quest happens when a poor thief named Boomba steals Ma’s purse with her passports and visas. The plot alternates between Ma’s increasingly desperate search for the passports and descriptions of Boomba’s life which explains the title of the book: a guardian and a thief. 

The prose is borderline sublime, although I did occasionally wonder how the people could think in such beautiful language given the ubiquitous hunger and heat. Here is an example:

“It was her duty, as a guardian, to put into action the beautiful ideal of hope. Ma thought harshly: This was what it looked like. Hope for the future was no shy bloom but a blood-maddened creature, fanged and toothed, with its own knowledge of history’s hostilities and the cages of the present. Hope wasn’t soft or tender. It was mean. It snarled. It fought. It deceived. On this day, hope lived in the delivery of gold to a man who might be a scammer, and, perhaps, hope lived also in opening the doors to a thief” (location 1721).

In my opinion, Majumdar’s book is a compelling tragedy worth reading.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Scheduled for publication in the US 14 October 2025

epub. 224 pgs. 18 September 2025