Olivia Cram
Professor Frank
Prize Fiction
Nov. 18, 2021
Burnt Sugar Book Review
Burnt Sugar, a novel written by Avni Doshi, focuses on the constant internal and external conflict between a presumably ill mother, Tara, and her daughter, Antara. This novel takes place in Prune, India which is the very place where Doshi had often spent her winters growing up. Doshi, much like her main character Antara, was a graduate from art school and had various art degrees and interests (Avni Doshi). In the novel, Antara takes the role of both the narrator and the main character. The novel begins with a line from Antara: “ I would be lying if I said my mother’s misery has never given me pleasure” (Doshi 1). This introductory line immediately forces the reader to examine the relationship between a mother and child in the non-traditional sense. Often, mother-child relationships are talked about and viewed in a healthy, positive manner. If this is not the case, there is typically some sort of resurrection or rebuilding of the relationship – some sense of hope. It is clear from this first line alone that Antara doesn’t like her mother and they don’t have the cookie-cutter sort of mother daughter relationship. Likewise, throughout the novel we question whether Tara truly loves her daughter, or rather sees her as competition. Because of this, the reader is constantly questioning who, and what, is reliable. Antara so confidently claims her mother is ill while others feel she is just aging. Yet, at times, it seems like Tara may be faking her forgetfulness for her own manipulative benefits. What makes this novel an adequate nominee for the Booker Prize is the psychological thrill of trying to decipher who is reliable and what we can believe.
The novel begins with Antara exploring the depths of her mother’s suspected illness. She seems to be losing her memory and constantly entering a state of confusion. In a doctor appointment for Tara where Antara is present, the doctor is seemingly concerned that Tara seems to be forgetting things. However, he finds nothing wrong with her brain scans. Because of this, Tara’s family and Antara’s husband Dilip question whether she is truly sick or if her forgetfulness is simply a side effect of aging. Antara, however, is convinced she must be ill. She makes detailed notes and lists of Tara’s episodes and things she has forgotten to show the doctor at the next appointment. The doctor, however, never comes to a clear conclusion on her diagnosis because he is always lacking physical evidence within her brain scans. As a reader, you want to believe in Antara’s suspected diagnosis of her mother. However, as the novel unravels we become more familiar with the passive aggressive nature of Antara and Tara’s relationship which makes it much more difficult to decipher any truth between the two of them.
There are several instances throughout the novel where Tara seems to forget doing or saying something that upsets someone else – typically Antara. These instances force the reader to think differently about Tara’s presumed illness. One of the first examples of this within the novel takes place in a conversation between Dilip and Tara, where Tara tells Dilip that her daughter is a liar. Later, Antara brings it up to her mother: “‘Why did you tell Dilip I’m a liar?’ ‘I never said that.’ It seems to me now that this forgetting is convenient, that she doesn’t want to remember the things she has said and done” (Doshi 50). If Tara truly were sick, this situation would make sense. As a reader, I couldn’t help but think about the doctor’s inability to diagnose Tara. Was she honestly forgetting that conversation? Or, was she using her presumed forgetfulness as an excuse to stir up trouble within her daughter’s life? There are so many similar instances of this throughout the novel, consistently making it difficult for the reader to decipher the true intentions of the characters.
Overall, Doshi’s ability to display a raw, honest relationship between a mother and her daughter proved quite compelling. This story lacked rainbows, sunshine and positivity, choosing to focus on the less desirable components of a mother daughter relationship that often stem from competition. The unreliability of both the narrator, Antara, and her mother, Tara, made it difficult for the reader to decipher between truth and exaggerations. We as readers want to believe that Tara is truly sick, but there is never any concrete evidence. We want to use Tara’s presumed illness as an explanation for her crude behavior, but the lack of evidence leaves a sense of skepticism surrounding every situation. This creates a sort of psychologically thrilling feeling when reading the novel because it is entirely up to the reader to decide what to believe and what not to believe. This thrill of the unknown and seemingly trying to solve the unknown is what makes the novel such a great nominee for the Booker Prize.
Works Cited
“Avni Doshi.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Aug. 2021,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avni_Doshi.
Doshi, Avni. Burnt Sugar. OVERLOOK, 2022.
