Burnt Sugar
Avni Doshi
Overlook Press: 2021
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The offspring of the Australian spider Diaea ergandros inject their mother with venom and devour her within days of being born. This act of cannibalism, common in arachnids, is described by evolutionary biologists as a specific adaptation to scarcity. Across the animal kingdom, mothers sacrifice themselves to the ruthless demands of their offspring. It’s a brutal reminder of our biology, with repercussions for the relationship between mother and child.

Avni Doshi’s debut novel, Burnt Sugar, is an immersive rumination on motherhood, narrated through the voice of a daughter. ‘Women feared my ambivalence to motherhood,’ Doshi tells the Guardian. Her comment underscores what’s really at stake here. The children of Diaea ergandros might sound bestial and ruthless, but their cannibalistic instinct reinforces the idea that mothers are expected to give themselves over completely to their children. The mother is the absolute expression of love. Burnt Sugar goes beyond this archetypal spiritual metaphor and dares to explore the experience of real mothers navigating the real world.

• Tags: Avni Doshi, Faustina Johnson, India, Issue 25