Megha Majumdar's 'A Guardian and a Thief' Explores Climate Migration and Moral Ambiguity in Future Kolkata

Megha Majumdar's second novel 'A Guardian and a Thief' presents a near-future Kolkata transformed by climate change, where drought and food shortages have triggered social collapse and mass migration. The narrative follows Ma, a middle-class shelter manager preparing to leave for Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Boomba, an economic migrant from rural India struggling to establish himself in the city. Their paths collide during an act of theft, setting off a chain of deception, forgery, assault, and kidnapping that blurs the lines between guardian and thief. Majumdar maintains moral ambiguity throughout, exploring how characters justify immoral actions amid ecological meltdown, economic disparity, and migrant resentment. The novel examines fragile social bonds and the fictions we maintain about urban life, with characters navigating complex dependencies while confronting global and local crises. Published by Scribner in hardcover for £16.99, the work appears in the March 2026 issue of ArtReview.