
Burnt Sugar - Reading Guide
Insight and topic ideas for Avni Dosh’s compelling portrait of a complex and unusual mother-daughter relationship
Sharp as a blade and laced with Avni Doshi’s caustic wit, this a story about love and betrayal. Not between lovers - between mother and daughter.
In her youth, Tara was wild. She abandoned her loveless marriage to join an ashram, endured a brief stint as a beggar (mostly to spite her affluent parents), and spent years chasing after a dishevelled, homeless ‘artist’ - all with her young child in tow. Now she is forgetting things, mixing up her maid’s wages and leaving the gas on all night - and her grown-up daughter is faced with the task of caring for a woman who never cared for her.
About the Author
Avni Doshi was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020. She was born in New Jersey in 1982 and is currently based in Dubai.
Actor Ayesha Dharker performs a reading from 2020 Booker Prize-shortlisted author Avni Doshi’s book, Burnt Sugar.
This was originally streamed during The Booker Prize 2020 winner ceremony.
I suppose there is a parallel between the narrator’s preoccupation with Alzheimer’s and my own