“The most important thing about writing is accepting that you will fail most of the time,” said New York Times bestselling author Megha Majumdar during her talk at Rollins.
Majumdar visited Rollins to discuss her newest novel, “A Guardian and a Thief,” and share insights from her experience as an author. Her first novel, “A Burning,” was a New York Times bestseller and a 2020 Times Notable Book, earning nominations for multiple awards.
Following the success of “A Burning,” Majumdar published “A Guardian and a Thief” on Oct. 14, 2025; the book was named a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award in Fiction, as well as the Kirkus Prize, and was selected as an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
“A Guardian and a Thief” is a near-future novel set in a climate-ravaged Kolkata, where flooding, famine, and food scarcity have made daily life desperate. The story follows a mother called Ma who, with her elderly father and young daughter, has finally secured visas to flee to the United States, only to have their passports and documents stolen just days before their planned departure.
Over the course of one intense week, Majumdar alternates between Ma’s frantic efforts to recover what was taken and the perspective of Boomba, the young man who stole the purse out of his own desperation to feed and protect his family. The novel blurs the lines between right and wrong, showing how extreme hardship tests moral boundaries and reveals the fierce devotion people have for their loved ones, even as they make choices that have painful consequences.
During Majumdar’s talk on Feb. 19, she sat down with Professor Victoria Brown, an associate professor of English at Rollins, and discussed what it was like writing her latest novel.
Throughout the discussion, Majumdar emphasized that much of her writing involves confronting uncertainty and embracing failure as part of the creative process, a theme that resonates in both her novels. She explained that “A Guardian and a Thief” was shaped by years of drafts and revisions, and that it took her a while to find the right storyline.
“I wrote this book for six years, and I wrote failed pages and horrible pages,” Majumdar said, reflecting on her writing process. “But I’m so glad that I had all of those failed directions because they brought me to this iteration of the book.”
After reflecting on her process, Majumdar shared more about the central ideas that drive “A Guardian and a Thief,” explaining that she was drawn to explore privilege and how an unequal society can be portrayed. Majumdar also talked about how the novel grew out of her own experiences with motherhood and her deep connection to her hometown of Kolkata, themes she believes help make the story and its characters feel both intimate and urgent to readers.
Majumdar’s visit wasn’t just a celebration of accolades and achievements; it was an invitation for aspiring writers to embrace uncertainty and persistence. She urged the audience to see writing not as a straight path to success, but as a process of discovery that often involves letting go of what we think we want in order to uncover deeper truths. By the end of the hour, it was clear that the lessons at the heart of “A Guardian and a Thief,” about love, morality, and survival in a world that feels increasingly uncertain, extend far beyond the pages of a book and into the very act of creating one. For students and community members in attendance, Majumdar’s words served as both encouragement and a challenge: to keep asking hard questions, to write boldly, and to find meaning in even the “failed pages” along the way.
Comments are closed.