A History of Burning by Janika Oza

India, 1898. Pirbhai is the thirteen-year-old breadwinner for his family when he steps into a dhow on the promise of work, only to be takenacross the ocean to labour on the East African Railway for the British.With no money or voice but a strong will to survive, he makes an impossible choice that will haunt him for the rest of his days and reverberate across generations.

Pirbhai's children go on to thrive in Uganda during the waning days of British colonial rule. As the country moves towards independence and military dictatorship, Pirbhai's granddaughterssisters Latika, Mayuri, and Kiyacome of age in a divided nation, each forging their own path for the future.Latika is an aspiring journalist with a fierce determination to fight for what she believes in. Mayuri's ambitions will take her farther away from her family than she ever imagined. And fearless Kiya will have to bear the weight of their secrets.

Forced to flee Uganda during Idi Amin's brutal expulsion of South Asians in 1972, the family must start their lives over againin Toronto. Then one day news arrives that makes each generation question how far they are willing to go, and who they are willing to defy, to secure a place of their own in the world.

A masterful and breathtakingly intimate saga of colonialism and exile, complicity and resistance,A History of Burningis a radiant debut about the stories our families choose to shareand those that remain unspoken. (From McClelland & Stewart)

• 86 works of Canadian fiction to read in the first half of 2023
• Janika Oza'sA History of Burningis a multigenerational saga exploring the impacts of colonialism and exile
• The best Canadian fiction of 2023

Janika Oza is a writer, educator and graduate student based in Toronto. She won the 2019 Malahat Review Open Season Award in fiction for her short storyExile, the 2020 Kenyon ReviewShort Fiction Award and the 2022 O. Henry Award.

Oza made the2019 CBC Short Story Prize longlistfor her storyThe Gift of Choice,which is a chapter inA History of Burning.Her writing is published in a number of journals, including The Columbia Review, Into The Void, Hobart, and Looseleaf Magazine.

Interviews withJanika Oza

The Next Chapter21:26Janika Ozas buzzworthy debut novel is an intergenerational family saga that explores colonialism and exile

Ryan B. Patrick interviews Janika Oza about her debut novel, A History of Burning.