Avni Doshi’s debut novel, Burnt Sugar, is the story of a toxic mother-daughter relationship, part biography of Tara, the Indian mother who leaves her husband to join a religious cult in Pune, and part autobiography of Antara (“not” Tara), the young daughter she takes with her. After some years at the ashram, they leave and live as beggars on the street. Chapters go back and forth between decades ranging from Antara’s early childhood to current times, in which Antara has married and is taking care of her mother Tara, who suffers from dementia (or does she?). The mother and daughter are fascinating characters and some of things they’ve said, thought, and done to each other are awful. It’s a love-hate bond that irrevocable binds and separates at the same time. The titleis apt, not only metaphorically, but because the book is filled with vivid smells of people, homes, and the streets. The author is a tremendous writer and Burnt Sugar was short-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/avni-doshi/burnt-sugar/