In the Kolkata India of the near future, Ma, her young daughter, and her father are ready to join her husband Baba in Michigan. After finally collecting the visas and passports necessary to make the journey to America, they have seven days to wait before they board the plane. And it's none too soon as their food supply has almost run out. Climate change in India has produced such dire ecological conditions that there is no more food grown or sold, and leaving is the family's only option. They are lucky to have a place to go.
Unfortunately Ma leaves the window open, and a thief who has been casing the neighborhood, steals her purse which contains their documents. After going to the police who lecture her on keeping windows open, Ma does all she can to find the thief, rescue her documents, and prepare to leave, while assuring her husband by phone that things are on track. We also find out about the thief who has good reasons for criminal behavior-he too has a child to provide for and he knows Ma doesn't exactly have totally clean hands.
This is an amazing read where there are no clear choices that can be made by any of the characters. I thought about the novel House of Sand and Fog which also set up a moral dilemma where both sides were right but only one could prevail. Majumdar sets the stage for this kind of confrontation, but places it in a dystopian future where there can really be no winners. With beautiful writing and a story fraught with tension, A Guardian and a Thief is a cautionary tale of a possible disaster-pay attention.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
October 14, 2025
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