Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment she posted on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party and finds that his own ascent depends on Jivan's fall. Lovely—an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of Bollywood glory fill the novel with warmth and hope and humor—has the alibi that can set Jivan free, but it will cost her everything she holds dear. Taut, symphonic, propulsive, and riveting from its opening lines, A Burning has the strength of an epic while being masterfully compressed. Megha Majumdar writes with dazzling assurance at a breakneck pace on complex themes that read here as components of a thriller: class, fate, corruption, justice, and what it feels like to face profound obstacles.