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From Kolkata to Oprah’s Book Club: Indian-born author Megha Majumdar’s new novel gets global spotlight
Oprah Winfrey announced that she has selected India-born author Megha Majumdar’s latest novel, ‘A Guardian and a Thief’, as her 119th Book Club pick.
Indian-origin author Megha Majumdar has landed one of the most influential literary endorsements in the world - Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. Taking to Instagram, Oprah announced that she has selected Majumdar’s latest novel, ‘A Guardian and a Thief’, as her 119th Book Club pick.
In the video, Oprah urges readers to remember Majumdar’s name, calling her “such an exquisite writer who understands not just details, but she understands the details of humanity, and she’s able to tell a story that brings in the humanity of all the characters and touches our own humanity.”
“You are going some places, sister!” Oprah tells Majumdar while patting her shoulder.
According to the magazine Oprah Daily, the American talk show host announced her book club pick during a breakthrough awards season for the author. Just a week ago, A Guardian and a Thief was named a finalist for the National Book Award. The book has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Kirkus Prize.
The novel is set in a near-future Kolkata, where the effects of climate change have made everyday necessities dangerously scarce and every decision ethically fraught.
Oprah described Majumdar as “one of those exquisitely skilled authors who takes us into the story of characters and cultural conflicts and leaves us spellbound until the last word and beyond.”
Majumdar, best known for her acclaimed debut ‘A Burning’, was visibly moved when she received the call informing her of the selection. “My heart is beating so fast,” she told Oprah over the phone. “Right now, every word feels too modest and too rigid, and too inflexible to capture this expansion that you’ve just brought into my day and into my life,” she said.
The author later joined Oprah at a Starbucks in New York for a live conversation with readers.
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Who is Megha Majumdar?
Majumdar was born and raised in Kolkata, and she now lives in New York. Besides her latest book, she is the author of the widely acclaimed novel ‘A Burning’, which became a New York Times bestseller and was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, and the American Library Association’s Andrew Carnegie Medal. In India, the novel won a Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.
‘A Burning’ was named one of the best books of the year by major publications, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Vogue, and TIME magazine.
