The Burnings by Himanjali Sankar is an intense tale of deep yearnings and tangled love. It is a bold book that challenges society’s conventions, expectations, and moral boundaries. It definitely leaves an impression because of the questions it raises about relationships, and the darker corners of human nature.
The strongest aspect of the book is undoubtedly its suspense. The story unfolds meticulously, with each thread carefully connected to another. It is woven like a spider’s web with intricate, deliberate plots. What initially seem like disconnected events gradually acquire meaning, and the reader is drawn deeper into the narrative, constantly wondering where the story is headed. What draws us deeper into the story also makes us pause along the way.
The atmosphere remains overwhelmingly serious and intense throughout the story. A little lightness with witty dialogues might have provided a welcome contrast and made the emotional heaviness easier to absorb.
I also found the book somewhat lacking in stimulating visual details. While the events are compelling, there are moments when I wished the author had given us more descriptive details, to visualize the scenes. The story takes place against dramatic circumstances, but I sometimes felt I was watching events from a distance rather than being completely immersed in them.
There are no role models or characters to root for. Instead, every character is a portrayal of a flawed individual or complicated relationships. Perhaps that is precisely the point. These are not characters designed to be admired but to be understood. It is a complex exploration of human relationships, particularly the uncomfortable emotions that can exist within families. One of the most striking moments is the author’s candid admission of ‘the flood of relief at the idea of not having to see her daughter every day’. It is an uncomfortable sentence, but it is also refreshingly honest. The author is unafraid to voice a thought that many might consider unacceptable or even shocking. That willingness to confront uncomfortable emotions is one of the book’s strengths.
There is also a perceptive observation that we have a tendency to remember and preserve the painful moments more vividly than the happy ones. Our relationships can become defined by wounds, disappointments and grievances, even when there were moments of love and tenderness alongside them.
The pandemic-era style background is a borrowed idea covering a global calamity, isolation, restricted movement and the breakdown of normal life. These elements work within the story, but they did not always feel especially original. At times, however, there is almost too much fire. Fire is everywhere, outside and within. The author is clearly passionate about it. She describes its power, purity and almost transcendental quality. The physical fires mirror the emotional fires burning inside the characters and capture their anger, grief, resentment, desire and most of all, longing.
It is a book of feelings. Ultimately, The Burnings is a book about what burns inside us. It explores how love can coexist with resentment, how relationships can contain both tenderness and hostility, and how destruction can sometimes be seen as transformation.
It is not a book I would describe as a light read. Instead, it is intricate, intense and emotionally unsettling. Like fire itself, it can be both fascinating and exhausting. It is beautiful in its power, frightening in its destruction, and impossible to ignore.