The Book Club was very happy to be finally meeting ‘live’ to discuss a book once again. We are now meeting at the Fairfield Seniors’ Centre, 80 Lothian Ave (Etobicoke), Room 2. With some quick rearranging of the classroom tables, we had a grouping where we could face each other and enjoy each other’s company.
We will meet there again on October 13 when our member, Darlene Leaver, will lead our discussion on The Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Moyes.
A Burning written by Megha Majundar
Reviewed by Kathyrn Raymond
We discussed the book, A Burning, by Megha Majundar. This was the young author’s extraordinary debut novel set in contemporary India. It is wonderfully linked to many facets of our current times and use of social media, when Jivan is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment made by her on Facebook
A Burning has the force of an epic saga, while being masterfully compressed, as it can be read in a single sitting. Majumdar writes with dazzling assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as the components of a thriller: class, fate, corruption, justice, and what it feels like to face profound obstacles and yet nurture big dreams in a country spinning toward extremism.
It is a novel about fate, power, opportunity, and class; and about innocence and guilt, betrayal and love. A Burning is a debut novel of exceptional power and urgency; it is haunting and beautiful, brutal, vibrant, and impossible to forget.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 