3.5 Stars. This is an important, highly anticipated historical novel. It is a multigenerational epic novel covering an East Indian family's struggles over four generations and one hundred years to find a place in society and the modern world. The realities during colonialism and brutal dictatorship are addressed, and the love of family, their endurance and persistence without any permanence of place. How caring for one's family and surviving and rebuilding through the loss of a home and livelihood is revealed in a sad but uplifting story that builds empathy with its characters and entertains and educates in the novel's rich history.

A young boy, Parbhai, barely a teenager, feels his role is to help provide for his impoverished family in an Indian village. He believes he is on a boat to take him to find work elsewhere in India. He is deceived and ends up doing hard labour in Africa. He is to help build the East African railway for the British. The work is not completed until Parbhai is a young adult and his robust health has declined. He is forced to move to the city of Kampala, Uganda, with a new wife. Uganda is under British Colonial rule. He aspires to work hard and provide a comfortable life for his growing family. There is racism with the divisions between British, African and Indian communities.

During the scope of its timelines and history, we are transported back to India in 1947 during its partition and independence from British rule. It focuses on the 1972 rule in Uganda under the cruel and brutal dictator Idi Amin and the expulsion of Indian families. I remember news reports at the time and my mother writing about an Indian family from Uganda hosted by her church. Parbhai's granddaughters, Latika, Mayari and Kiya, must find a new life away from the country where they grew up. I liked that the conclusion was in Toronto.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I admit I was confused by the multiple characters named and would have preferred that the story had been based mainly on the nature of Parbhai's life and struggles and continued in subsequent books featuring his descendants. So many Gujarati words kept me busy looking for translations. I intend to reread this beautifully written book, and it will probably receive a higher rating when I do so. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a multigenerational story that informs readers of historical events and the importance of having a permanent place to call home.

An ambitious, epic novel that spans multiple generations and countries. It was fascinating to learn about various political events and the impact those events have on individual people over multiple generations.

Initially, I didn’t realize that we wouldn’t be following the same main character through the whole book, so for a while I felt like I was waiting for the story to start. Once I realized the book’s structure was to switch points-of-view to different family members (across and between generations) and also to people who would *become* family members, that allowed me to get into the novel better.

However, despite brilliant writing and an interesting historical backdrop, this book ultimately wasn’t for me and I stopped reading at 47%. The reason is that I personally need to feel more connection with a protagonist and their psychological development. Switching protagonists works great for giving that feeling of the vast sweep of history and geography, but at the cost of less psychological intimacy with any one character.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of what a specific reader wants from a novel. Many fans of historical fiction will LOVE this book!

The novel is a multi-generational story, from humble beginnings, from India to Uganda and beyond. Pirbhai a young penniless teenager starts us off, is tricked into leaving his continent to build a railroad. This is the story of his new families, a love story of family, the trauma of a family without a country to call their own. I loved the simple endurance and persistence of the characters, often selfless, looking out for each other throughout four generations.The love of parents for their children, the sacrifices made in the name of surviving and rebuilding, especially after the coup in Uganda and rise to power of Idi Amin, East Asians lost their livelihoods, their homes and often their lives to the brutality of racism. Though I remember hearing about the bloodlust of Idi Amin’s reign in the news, this was a firsthand experience of everyday people: the powerless, the stateless, the voiceless. I enjoyed the minute details, as author lives these lives. I connected at a childhood level, our similarities such as, “..he was tying his laces on the floor, two loops, crisscross”, as I tie my shoes, though we may be different. I loved the story, the characters, found myself hoping for the all! As a Canadian, I was happy to see Toronto play a part as safe landing for unspeakable trauma. 5 out of 5 stars!

<i>Wow.</i>

This is not my usual kind of book, but when it popped up on NetGalley, I was so intrigued by the synopsis that I decided to request it. While at times I did find this book maddening (only because of the very human and realistic actions of the characters), I can't deny that it is unutterably beautiful and such an epic story - the author has constructed a family that you entirely, entirely believe - and created a world for them that brutally reflects the realities of life under dictatorships, colonial rule and more broadly, the quest to find meaning in pain, separation and grief.

In short, it's a tour de force.

The novel begins with a young boy named Pirbhai, living in India and acting as "the man of the house". While searching for work, Pirbhai is taken from his home and under false pretences, is lured to work for the British on the East African Railway. As the novel progresses, we follow Pirbhai through what he endures both on the railway, and after, as he marries and has children. The narrative skips forward frequently from one paragraph to the next - you might find yourself years in the future, but Oza is skilled enough for these jumps not to be jarring. Instead, I found them beautiful - I felt privileged to be witnessing so much of these characters' lives.

Pirbhai ends up in Uganda, and his children are raised and marry there - living through the waning of British colonialism, independence and finally, a brutal dictator. Pirbhai's granddaughters, Latika, Mayuri, and Kiya are the true heart of this tale. What happens to each of them reverberates through the rest of the story. After the South Asian expulsion, Pirbhai's descendants have no choice but to leave the country they love - scattering across the globe and searching for new homes amongst the rubble.

The synopsis calls this story <i>intimate</i> and it really is. Although each character is reticent in their own way, the rawness of their emotions fairly leap off the page. By the end, I could only breathe in and out, devastated to be leaving these people behind - and so badly wanting to know more about their dreams and lives and hopes.

I knew absolutely nothing about the history of Uganda and this was an eye-opening and heartbreaking read for me. 100% recommended. It's going to win <i>a lot</i> of awards and it deserves every single one.

<i>I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

What a debut! A multigenerational family saga at turns inspiring, melancholy, and fierce. I couldn’t put this bittersweet page-turner down. Toronto’s Janika Oza has written a compelling story that gave me wonderful page-turner literary fiction set against the amazing backdrop of twentieth century history, from India, through Uganda and then to Toronto. The story begins with Pirbhai, an Indian boy tricked into forced labour for the British in Africa, then follows his family’s story in Uganda under British colonial rule. His children and grandchildren must flee when Idi Amin takes power, resetting in Toronto in 1972.

Burning as a motif runs throughout: first, as an act of survival by Pirbhai, who makes a hard choice that binds him to Africa; then during Partition in 1947; in the magnificent flame trees; in funeral pyres; and as a bittersweet ending to the book. But there is also water. There are two oceans to cross, and the book’s burning ending is tempered by the image of ocean tides in an endless cycle of reshaping, ebb and flow.

I felt the sense of water in the rhythm of this novel too. The book is chronological, moving relentlessly forward. The succession of generations and locale, and of history itself, gave me the sense of a river, endlessly twisting its way through time. We make crucial choices, and we can’t undo them. Like a river, we can only keep going and look to the future, making the best of things. We have to live with events both within and out of our control, sometimes fighting fiercely for what we believe in, sometimes practising acceptance of the things we can’t change.

Pirbhai and his descendants largely do this with grace and determination, even if they live with sadness and regret at times. I loved the relationships in this book, the respect that the characters showed each other and the dignity that they retained. I came away with a sense that human connection–friends and family–is paramount, but that the impermanence of place is inevitable. It sounds bitter, but there’s much sweetness to be found in A History of Burning too.

I highly recommend picking this up. And the Canadian cover? It’s so amazing that I’m tempted to buy a hardcopy just to admire it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and McClelland & Stewart for an ARC in exchange for my review!

Delighted to include this title in the May edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

This is an amazing family saga that tracks one family through some very dark moments in human history.

Perhaps the earlier story with Pirbhai was necessary to set the stage for the displacement this family felt throughout the book. Here was a young boy believing he would find work an help his family and instead is torn from his home and forced to work for the British setting the railway through Africa. That in and of itself had the space to be one story in and of itself.

But for me, the story really started when it turned to Vinod and Rajni and their family. Set against the rising unrest in Uganda against British rule, this family faces unrest both internally and externally. For South Asians, family is so important, and you feel that fracture within the family unit almost as deeply as Rajni. What it must have cost her to bury those secrets from those that meant the most to her.

Great book about family, love and what war and dictatorship does to people.

Oza lives in Toronto and is an award winning author of short stories and essays. This is her first novel. Set mostly in Uganda and Toronto it follows a family through several generations from 1898 to the early 1990's. Pirbhai is taken as a young teen from his home in India to work at the building of a railway in Uganda under very harsh conditions. Afterwards he settles there, eventually marrying and raising a family. Years later when Idi Amin expels all Asians from the country they emigrate to Toronto. This is a story of survival, resistance, racism, and family that entertains as it educates. It is a wonderful recommendation for historical fiction fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own

This is the story of a family spanning over one hundred years taking readers from India, Uganda, under British Colonial Rule, England, and finally to Canada. The story is carried out and told from the perspective of different members of the family.

First, I chose this book because it was named the most anticipated book of 2023 by the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, OprahDaily, and Goodreads. Second, because I had never read about the Indian minority's experience in Uganda. I had never learned about their expulsion in 1972 from that country. I also learned about the Yonge Street riots of 1992. A piece of Ontario and Canadian history that I had never been aware of.

Honestly, I had a hard time at first with this book. I almost declared it a "dnf" because I felt the jumping from one character and different decades between paragraphs was jarring. Yet by 20% into the book, I was able to capture the rhythm of the narrative and read it to the end in one sitting. I am so glad that I did because it was a rich history and deserved my attention. Yes, there were a lot of characters but each individual voice captured my heart. This would make a very compelling limited series on a streaming service.

Expected Publication Date 02/05/23
Goodreads review published 16/04/23

Oza has skilfully crafted a must-read historical fiction that exceeded all my expectations of a debut novel.

The story begins in a moment, when young Parbhai, who is desperate for work to feed his family, is taken from India to Uganda to build the railway. This moment sets into motion a century of determination, as each subsequent generation must fight for something better. This story is rich with history, from the partition of India to the exile of the Indian minority from Uganda. The multiple perspectives used helps shape a cohesive story, allowing the reader to fully understand the experience.

I love books like this, that allow me to experience a time, place, and struggle that I otherwise wouldn't be able to. These are the books that need to be read to increase empathy and understanding. Prior to reading this, I was unaware of what happened in Uganda, even though it happened in more recent history. I always enjoy reading books set in India, and as a Canadian liked that they ended up in Toronto.

There were a lot of characters, yet Oza managed to make them all have a distinctive voice, experience, and their own unique motivations. There were times when it was a little tricky to keep everyone straight, but it was manageable. I am someone who appreciates the authenticity of using Gujarati words within the text, as it makes it a more immersive experience. Oza was very clever in the way she wove the theme of fire throughout, and created a sense of building towards something to keep the reader engaged throughout the multi-generational saga.

Comparable to The Book of Everlasting Things, read this one if you enjoy well researched historical fiction and learning about the experience of forced immigration.

A History of Burning is out May 2nd!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada, NetGalley, and Janika Oza for this ARC, it was a pleasure to read and give feedback on.