A Guardian and a Thief

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Wondering if there's a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy's The Road a run for its money? Here you go. [A Guardian and a Thief is] an indelible piece of writing, in equal parts dazzling and devastating."-Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life

Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning is set in a near-future Kolkata, India in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other. A piercing and propulsive tour de force.

In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma's husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma's purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.

Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma's frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children's future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.

A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.

From the publisher

Penguin Random House/Knopf | Oct 14, 2025 | 224 pages | ISBN:9780593804872 | Literary Fiction

1. Majumdar suggests that "a guardian and a thief lives in each of us." How do you see this play out in Ma's and Boomba's stories? Do you think their actions are more about morality or survival?

2. Kolkata is ravaged by famine, heat, and floods. In what ways does the city itself function as a character in the novel, shaping the choices of Ma, Dadu, and Boomba?

3. Ma risks everything - her integrity, her dignity, even her safety - for the chance to leave for America. What does the novel suggest about the costs and limits of hope?

4. Dadu and Mishti embody opposite ends of the age spectrum. How does each experience and interpret the crisis differently? What does their relationship reveal about resilience across generations?

5. Both Ma and Boomba steal (Ma from the shelter, Boomba from Ma). Does the novel frame one theft as more forgivable than the other? How does it complicate our understanding of justice?

6. Passports and visas become symbols of salvation and survival. What does the book suggest about the arbitrary power of documents in determining who lives securely and who doesn't?

7. Both families are driven by love: Ma for her daughter, Boomba for his younger brother Robi. How does Majumdar portray the ways family responsibility can be both life-giving and crushing?

8. From cauliflower to protein paste, food is central to this novel. What roles does food play beyond sustenance? How does hunger shape morality and imagination?

9. Even moments of kindness - sharing water, feeding a stranger - are tinged with desperation. Where did you see the strongest moments of compassion in the novel, and what risks did they carry?

10. The narrative recalls earlier famines in Bengal (1770, 1876, 1943). Why do you think Majumdar chose to explicitly reference these historical crises? How does this deepen your reading of the present catastrophe?

11. How does the spectacle of the wedding feast on the floating hexagon island expose the extremes of inequality? Did you see echoes of contemporary real-world disparities?

12. The novel concludes with flights canceled and the dream of America deferred. How did the ending affect you emotionally? Did you find it despairing, realistic, or strangely hopeful?

Book Club Talking Points:
"A Guardian and a Thief" is an excellent choice for book clubs because it is a short, fast-paced novel that tackles heavy moral debates and urgent, timely issues. Set in a climate-ravaged city, the story features characters who are forced to make ethically ambiguous choices in order to survive, making it difficult to label anyone as a clear "hero" or "villain." This inherent moral gray area prompts immediate and intense discussions about what people are willing to do for love and hope when resources are scarce-an engaging topic for any group to explore.

"A true literary achievement.... Majumdar creates a tense and deeply compassionate portrait of desperation, fear and the combined selflessness and selfishness of parenthood.... Detail is the strongest thing in A Guardian and a Thief. It conveys the nuances of not only love but also wisdom . . . it also makes this novel, wrenching though it often is, a true joy to read." -The New York Times Book Review

"[A Guardian and a Thief] is a perfect novel: 200 pages of tightly honed panic about life in a collapsing society.... The book's simple structure feels reminiscent of a fairy tale, which helps account for the deep, visceral terror the story generates." -The Washington Post

"A Guardian and a Thief is an achievement. It deserves praise. It deserves study. It deserves to be read, and sat with, and thought about.... The craft of this novel is something approaching immaculate." -Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"A beguilingly simple tale. A complicated morality play. A sensitive evocation of time.... [A Guardian and a Thief] is a contemporary classic." -Minnesota Star Tribune

"Wondering if there's a novel out there that gives Cormac McCarthy's The Road a run for its money? Here you go. [A Guardian and a Thief is] an indelible piece of writing, in equal parts dazzling and devastating."-Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life

"Devastatingly powerful.... With this incredible story, Majumdar has given us something precious: truth." -BookPage (starred review)

"An electrifying depiction of dignity and morality under siege.... With gorgeous writing and the pacing of a thriller, A Guardian and a Thief transports the reader to a world ravaged by drought, burning heat, and severe food scarcity.... The way Majumdar manages to connect all the storylines with a resolution that unfolds both globally and in one small living room is genius." -Kirkus (starred review)

"Luminous.... Majumdar conjures a city at once deteriorating and resilient, where markets sell seaweed and synthetic fish, and the city's 'remaining benevolent billionaire' lives on a heavily guarded man-made island in a widening river.... There's no clear-cut villain here, just people attempting to survive and protect their own. Majumdar proves once again that she is a master of the moral dilemma." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Majumdar brilliantly blurs right and wrong, ethics and legality.... [An] exquisitely wrenching novel." -Booklist (starred review)