Booker Shortlist 2020: Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

The winner? Not according to “our” popular opinion:

The lowdown from the judges: 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.

This is a love story and it is a story about betrayal. But not between lovers – between mother and daughter. Sharp as a blade and laced with caustic wit, Avni Doshi tests the limits of what we can know for certain about those we are closest to, and by extension, about ourselves.

Book Worm’s Thoughts: Depressing book for the Booker Shortlist why not?Why this could win: It is depressing but it makes for interesting reading the exploration of memory loss and how that affects a family made for compelling reading. A complex book with no likeable characters yet still managed to hold my interest there must be something there.
Why it might not win: I live in hope that the Booker judges will choose a lighter book because…2020.

Nicole’s Thoughts:   I have no idea why this book was shortlisted.
Why this could win:  I have no idea why this book was shortlisted.
Why it might not win:  I have no idea why this book was shortlisted. 🙂

Tracy’s Thoughts:  This was good but not great. This author has talent, and I am excited to see what she writes next. Again well written but I think she tried to tackle too much. I would be a little disappointed if this wins but I could live with it.