A History of Burning

Oza’s impressive debut spans four continents and five generations of an Indian family as they’re forced to migrate again and again for political and economic reasons. In 1898, 13-year-old Pirbhai, the oldest son of a poor family in western India, heads out to find work. He’s conscripted to a railroad builder in Kenya, where he labors for several years. After the project is finished, he lucks into a job at a store run by an Indian family and later marries their eldest daughter, Sonal. The couple then moves to Uganda to work at a pharmacy. In 1972, Pirbhai’s son Vinod and his wife and three daughters, who have sunk roots into Uganda, are exiled by Idi Amin, with most of the family moving to Toronto, before their lives are disrupted again by the 1992 racial uprising. In chapters alternating between the many characters’ points of view, Oza builds momentum toward a denouement involving a letter from Vinod’s lost daughter in Uganda. Though the format doesn’t allow for much character development, Oza neatly sets her characters’ lives within the context of broader political and economic movements, showing how historical circumstances determine their individual destinies as much as the choices of their forebears. Though it can be tiring, this broad and colorful portrait has plenty of impressive moments. Agent: Sarah Bowlin, Aevitas Creative Management. (May)