A Burning

This one has been on my scope for months, but it made the TOB longlist so I decided to start it and I couldn't put it down. My main concern is that it is poverty porn. I grew up poor, but the American standard of poor is nothing compared to this. Nothing. I acknowledge my privilege. I was entranced by these intersecting stories of 3 people in Kolkata, India who are connected to burning of a train. The novel opened up a world to me that I knew nothing about. The school system, the Hijira, the legal system: we get a taste of this world. I adored Lovely, I understood PT Sir, and my heart broke for Jivan.