Book cover of Burnt Sugar

Book description

Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar is a searing literary debut novel set in India about mothers and daughters, obsession, and betrayal.

NPR Best Book of 2020

A Pen America Literary Award Finalist

“I would be lying if I say my mother's misery has never given…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Burnt Sugar as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This novel dives headfirst into the most uncomfortable corners of a mother–daughter relationship.

I love how Doshi refuses to make either woman simply "good" or "bad" and instead sits in the murky space of resentment, obligation, and love. It's a book that made me feel complicit, unsettled, and oddly seen—as both a daughter and a mother.

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On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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