Megha Majumdar, a Johns Hopkins Anthropology alumna, has released a new novel, A Guardian and a Thief, a harrowing and humane story set in a famine-stricken, near-future Kolkata.

Reviewed in The New York Times by critic Lily Meyer, the novel follows two intertwined lives: Ma, a shelter manager preparing to flee the collapsing city with her family, and Boomba, a young migrant struggling to survive after his village is destroyed by floods. When a desperate act of theft links their fates, Majumdar explores the fragile boundary between compassion and survival.

Meyer praises Majumdar’s “tense and deeply compassionate portrait of desperation, fear, and the selflessness and selfishness of parenthood.” While the novel takes on vast themes—climate catastrophe, poverty, and moral ambiguity—it stands out for its attention to intimate human detail. The reviewer highlights Majumdar’s evocative portrayal of love, especially between parents and children, calling it the book’s “strongest and most moving achievement.”

Read more in Lily Meyer’s review in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/books/review/megha-majumdar-a-guardian-and-a-thief.html