"A Guardian and a Thief" | Reviewed by Chris Stuckenschneider

Desperation drives the characters in the immersive novel, “The Guardian and the Thief,” by Megha Majumdar, a thought-providing page-turner nominated for the National Book Award. Majumdar makes story telling look easy in her beautifully written book, a must-read that raises questions about moral ethics, leaving readers asking, “does the end justify the means?”

At the onset we quickly understand what drives Ma, the protagonist, to steal food from the shelter she manages in Kolkata, India, a troubled city in the near future. Its citizens are starving and housing is a luxury far from the norm.

Ma must provide for her two-year old daughter Mishti and her aged, widowed father, Dadu. Ma carries this hefty load because her husband is working in America. He left six months before to take a research position in Michigan with the understanding the rest of the family would join him there.

It’s a wonderous day when the family finally goes to the consulate to pick up their passports, which they handle like priceless jewels. Ma keeps the documents in a secure location, inside one plastic bag, tucked into another, “deep in (her) purse.” They’ll use them in seven days when they depart India for “… a country of opportunity for her child.”

In Kolkata, life has become increasingly difficult as India suffers a severe heatwave and drought making food even more scarce than before. Much needed vegetables all but disappear from markets. As the city suffers so do its people who began turning against one another, crime increasing, especially robbery, which becomes commonplace.

Another Indian family, who live in the countryside, struggle even more than the city dwellers. Their home is a shed that doesn’t offer protection from the elements. Boomba, their son, becomes determined, at age 18, to rescue his parents and younger brother from hunger and poverty. He moves to Kolkata to try and find work and a home for his family to live in.

When word comes that a large quantity of eggs has been delivered to the shelter where Boomba is forced to live, he sees Ma taking some of the donated eggs, “stacking them with care in her purse.” Boomba could have raised a fuss and turned Ma in, but instead he follows her home, later breaking in through an open window, intent on getting the eggs and other food to sell. Seeing Ma’s purse in the house, he realizes he’s hit gold, but has no idea that the documents he tosses on a trash pile are Ma’s ticket to a joyous reunion and better life.

Initially readers will have heartfelt empathy for Ma and the horrible predicament she’s in as she frantically tries to find the robber and discover what’s happened to the passports, the family’s dream of immigrating fading like a rainbow after a storm. But soon that empathy begins to shift.

The emotions Megha Majumdar wrings from us in this powerful book are amazing. Tension builds as a series of shocking events unfold certain to leave readers divided on who the evildoer really is. “A Guardian and a Thief” is my hands-down pick for the National Book Award which will be announced on Wed., Nov. 15.

Buy the Book.