YvetteSawtell2 at 03:32, 23 April 2026

2026-04-23T03:32:48Z

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{{short description|Novel by Avni Doshi}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Girl in White Cotton
| image = Girl in White Cotton (Avni Doshi).png
| border = yes
| alt =
| caption = Cover of first edition (India)
| author = [[Avni Doshi]]
| audio_read_by = [[Vineeta Rishi]]
| cover_artist =
| country = India
| language = English
| genre =
| set_in = [[Pune]], [[India]]
| publisher = Fourth Estate ([[HarperCollins India]])
| pub_date = 25 August 2019
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = 288
| awards =
| isbn = 978-93-5357-138-2
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 1112137808
| dewey =
| congress =
}}
'''''Girl in White Cotton''''' is the [[debut novel]] by [[Avni Doshi]], an American writer of Indian origin. Doshi wrote the novel over the course of seven years. It tells the story of a troubled mother-daughter relationship in [[Pune]], [[India]]. The novel was first published in India in August 2019. It was published in the United Kingdom under the title '''''Burnt Sugar''''' in July 2020.

The novel was shortlisted for the [[2020 Booker Prize|2020]] [[Booker Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Alex |date=15 September 2020 |title=Debut Novelists and Women Dominate Booker Prize Shortlist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/books/booker-prize-shortlist.html |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

== Background ==
{{quote box
| quote="Art writing felt like a farce; the text could never stand up to the objects themselves, never hold its own weight. I was interested in exploring something else – writing that existed in conversation with, or in resistance to, the art itself. Fiction became my form of rebellion."
| source = —[[Avni Doshi]]<ref name=":0" />
| width = 20em
| align = left
| style = padding:8px;
}}
The novel was written by Doshi over the course of seven years.<ref name="Telegraph" /> In 2012, while working as a curator and art writer in [[Mumbai]], Doshi wrote her first draft of the novel in order to meet the deadline for the Tibor Jones South Asia prize for an unpublished manuscript. She won the prize in a unanimous decision by its five judges.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Elle |date=28 July 2020 |title=Booker nominee Avni Doshi: 'Women feared my ambivalence towards motherhood' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/28/avni-doshi-women-feared-my-ambivalence-towards-motherhood-booker-prize-interview-burnt-sugar |access-date=19 September 2019 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> She began writing the novel in [[Pune]].<ref name="Firstpost">{{Cite web |last=Kelkar |first=Suhit |date=10 December 2019 |title=Girl in White Cotton: Author Avni Doshi on the triggers, themes and processes that underlie her novel |url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/girl-in-white-cotton-author-avni-doshi-on-the-triggers-themes-and-processes-that-underlie-her-novel-7744381.html |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Firstpost]]}}</ref> Doshi credits a moment while in her grandmother's flat in Pune when a distortion in a mirror warped her reflection, and she saw two different people in her face. The same day, she wrote what would later become the first fragment of the novel.<ref name="bookerinterview">{{Cite web |date=11 August 2020 |title=Interview with longlisted author Avni Doshi |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/booker-prize/news/interview-longlisted-author-avni-doshi |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=thebookerprizes.com}}</ref> Doshi has said, "The images in my mind were vivid. A mother and a daughter, a woman with a split reflection, a drawing partially erased."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=13 November 2020 |title=On the brink of a Booker: 2020's shortlisted authors on the stories behind their novels |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/13/on-the-brink-of-a-booker-2020s-shortlisted-authors-on-the-stories-behind-their-novels |access-date=15 November 2020 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> She continued her writing of the novel in Mumbai, the United States and the [[United Arab Emirates]], where she started and completed the final draft. Doshi struggled to complete the novel, writing eight different drafts over seven years.<ref name="Firstpost" /> The drafts varied drastically and were written with different points of view and voices. Doshi described the process as a "dark and difficult journey" of fighting self-doubt.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joshi |first=Sonam |date=5 August 2020 |title=Indian women are wowing the West with their first novels |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/indian-women-are-wowing-the-west-with-their-first-novels/articleshow/77374522.cms |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref name="Firstpost" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Doshi |first=Avni |date=13 September 2019 |title=Art historian and new mother Avni Doshi recalls her struggle with writing and the years she spent fighting self-doubt |url=https://elle.in/article/avni-doshi/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Elle India]]}}</ref> The novel was partially inspired by her mother's familial connection to the Osho ashram in Pune, created in 1976 by the guru [[Rajneesh|Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh]].<ref name="Guardian" /> However, Doshi has stressed that the novel is not autobiographical and that the relationship at its centre is not based on her relationship with her own mother.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Ashleigh |date=19 July 2020 |title=Dubai author Avni Doshi on the long road to getting published: 'It's been a difficult journey' |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/dubai-author-avni-doshi-on-the-long-road-to-getting-published-it-s-been-a-difficult-journey-1.1051009 |access-date=15 February 2026 |website=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20260215204534/https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/dubai-author-avni-doshi-on-the-long-road-to-getting-published-it-s-been-a-difficult-journey-1.1051009|archive-date=15 February 2026|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Guardian" /> Doshi was also partly inspired by [[Sheila Heti]]'s [[autobiographical novel]] ''[[Motherhood (novel)|Motherhood]]'' (2018).<ref name="TLS" />

== Synopsis ==
In Pune, Antara must care for her ageing mother Tara who is experiencing memory loss from what is suspected to be [[Early-onset Alzheimer's disease|early onset Alzheimer's disease]]. Tara lived a rebellious and careless life, abandoning her marriage to join an ashram and pursure a romance with a guru. Antara was neglected and abused by her mother as a child. Antara reckons with the contempt she holds for her mother as she is forced to [[Dementia caregiving|care]] for her.

"I would be lying if I said my mother's misery has never given me pleasure" is the opening sentence of the novel.

== Themes ==
Doshi described "obsession, memory and the boundaries of the self" as being the novel's main themes. Particularly, how memory is "co-authored" by the people who collectively remember specific stories and continue to restate and rearrange them, altering each other's memories in the process.<ref name="Firstpost" /> The theme of the fallibility of memory was partly inspired by Doshi's own grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease while she was writing the novel. Her mother felt she was "going mad" while being with her grandmother. The concept of how caretakers often "question their own hold on reality" influenced Doshi's writing.<ref name="bookerinterview" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Charlesworth |first=Antonia |date=7 August 2020 |title=Author Q&A: Avni Doshi |url=https://www.bigissuenorth.com/reading-room/2020/08/author-qa-avni-doshi/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=Big Issue North}}</ref> Doshi admits a parallel between Antara's preoccupation with Alzheimer's and her own, saying, "She makes sense of the disease through drawing it, and I made sense of it through writing this novel."<ref name="bookerinterview" />

== Publication ==
The novel was first published under the title ''Girl in White Cotton'' in India in 2019. It was acquired by editor Rahul Soni<ref>{{cite web |last=Dhar |first=Arshia |title=With only two years in mainstream publishing, how editor Rahul Soni carved a niche with empathy, resolve |url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/with-only-two-years-in-mainstream-publishing-how-editor-rahul-soni-carved-a-niche-with-empathy-resolve-8090211.html |website=[[Firstpost]] |date=4 March 2020 |access-date=15 December 2022}}</ref> and published in hardcover format by Fourth Estate, an imprint of [[HarperCollins India]], on 25 August 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Girl in White Cotton (Burnt Sugar) |url=https://harpercollins.co.in/product/girl-in-white-cotton/ |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=HarperCollins Publishers India}}</ref> Doshi received offers from three publishers immediately after her literary agent presented the novel for sale.<ref name="Firstpost" /> Shortly after its publication, the novel was recommended by ''[[Vogue India]]'' and was praised by several writers, including [[Fatima Bhutto]], [[Elizabeth Gilbert]], [[Olivia Sudjic]], [[Tishani Doshi]], [[Janice Pariat]], [[Diksha Basu]] and [[Sharlene Teo]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goyal |first=Sana |date=10 September 2019 |title=8 fiction books by first-time Indian authors you should be reading right now |url=https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/best-new-fiction-books-by-first-time-indian-authors |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Vogue India]]}}</ref><ref name="Guardian" /> On 13 September 2019, British publisher [[Hamish Hamilton]] announced it had bought the world English volume, audio and serial rights to the novel and would publish it in summer 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Heloise |date=13 September 2019 |title=Hamish Hamilton scoops Avni Doshi's 'sharp' betrayal novel |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hamish-hamilton-scoops-avni-doshis-sharp-betrayal-novel-1081106 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Bookseller]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 September 2019 |title=Hamish Hamilton scoops Avni Doshi's sharp betrayal novel 'Burnt Sugar' |url=https://www.pontas-agency.com/hamish-hamilton-scoops-avni-doshis-sharp-betrayal-novel-burnt-sugar/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=Pontas Agency}}</ref> On 30 July 2020, the novel was published under the title ''Burnt Sugar'' in paperback format in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton.<ref>{{Cite web  |title=Burnt Sugar |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317214/burnt-sugar/9780241441510.html |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=www.penguin.co.uk}}</ref> An audiobook narrated by [[Vineeta Rishi]] was released by [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] the same day.<ref>{{Cite web  |title=Burnt Sugar |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317214/burnt-sugar/9780241990865.html |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=www.penguin.co.uk}}</ref> Doshi was also interviewed the same day on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Front Row (radio programme)|Front Row]]'' programme to coincide the novel's UK publication.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 July 2020 |title=Whipped cream on The Fourth Plinth, Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, and Booker Prize nominated Avni Doshi |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000l8r7 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Front Row (radio programme)|Front Row]] |publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]}}</ref> The novel was published in the United States by [[The Overlook Press]] on 26 January 2021, also under the title ''Burnt Sugar''.<ref>{{Cite web  |title=Burnt Sugar (Hardcover) |url=https://abramsbooks.com/product/burnt-sugar_9781419752926/ |access-date=27 November 2020 |website=[[Abrams Books]]}}</ref>

== Reception ==
The novel's opening sentence was singled out and praised by many critics for its strength and for being memorable.<ref name="The Hindu" /><ref name="Scroll" /><ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="The Times" /><ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="TLS" /><ref name="Hindustan Times" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Sayantan |date=28 December 2019 |title=Read these, if you haven't already |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/read-these-if-you-haven-t-already/cid/1730998 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pierce|first=Barry|date=13 September 2020|title=Booker Prize 2020: reviews of Burnt Sugar, The Shadow King and Shuggie Bain|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/booker-prize-2020-reviews-of-burnt-sugar-the-shadow-king-and-shuggie-bain-1.4342960|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=19 September 2020}}</ref>

Saudamini Jain of ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' praised Doshi's characterization in the novel, writing, "Their feelings and resentments — even in alien situations — are uncannily identifiable."<ref name="Hindustan Times">{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Saudamini |date=14 February 2020 |title=Review: Girl in White Cotton by Avni Doshi |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/review-girl-in-white-cotton-by-avni-doshi/story-AvQjwthj5TPzM94bQk2BMJ.html |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Hindustan Times]]}}</ref> Esha Datanwala of ''[[Scroll.in]]'' gave the novel a rave review, praising its narrative structure and Doshi for knowing "exactly how to make her characters human, how to describe Pune and Bombay to elicit nostalgia, how to cut through the frivolity of modern writers and say exactly what is appropriate."<ref name="Scroll">{{Cite web |last=Datanwala |first=Esha |date=21 September 2019 |title=This not-romance between a daughter and her mother is a sensitive study in relationships |url=https://scroll.in/article/937928/this-not-romance-between-a-daughter-and-her-mother-is-a-sensitive-study-in-relationships |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[Scroll.in]]}}</ref> Rohan Manoj of ''[[The Hindu]]'' agreed, praising Doshi's "crisp prose" and her "powers of observation" regarding human relationships and the "physical reality" of both Pune and Mumbai.<ref name="The Hindu">{{Cite web |last=Manoj |first=Rohan |date=21 December 2019 |title=Sadness and schadenfreude: Review of Avni Doshi's 'Girl in White Cotton' |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/sadness-and-schadenfreude-review-of-avni-doshis-girl-in-white-cotton/article30357196.ece |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Paromita Chakrabarti of ''[[The Indian Express]]'' called it a "hard, unflinching look at familial bonds and how they damn us and unravel us."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chakrabarti |first=Paromita |date=17 February 2020 |title=Avni Doshi talks about exploring memory and the bitter aftertaste of messy relationships |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/girl-in-white-cotton-avni-doshi-book-on-relationships-6271366/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref> [[Urvashi Bahuguna]] of ''[[India Today]]'' praised the novel for revealing "the limited power afforded to women and the price they pay for acting in their own interest."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bahuguna |first=Urvashi |date=18 October 2019 |title=Out of Order |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/leisure/story/20191028-out-of-order-1610707-2019-10-18 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[India Today]]}}</ref>

Francesca Carington of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' gave the novel a perfect 5 out of 5 stars rating, praising Doshi's "feverish prose" and calling it a "corrosive, compulsive debut."<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|last=Carington|first=Francesca|date=16 August 2020|title=Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi, review: a feverish portrayal of corroded love|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/burnt-sugar-avni-doshi-review-feverish-portrayal-corroded-love/|url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200919032902/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/burnt-sugar-avni-doshi-review-feverish-portrayal-corroded-love/|archive-date=19 September 2020|access-date=15 February 2023|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In his review for ''[[The Times]]'', John Self called it "a good debut, but by declaring it one of the year's very best novels, the Booker judges might have given it as much a burden as an accolade."<ref name="The Times">{{cite news |last=Self |first=John|date=28 August 2020|title=Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/burnt-sugar-by-avni-doshi-the-standardization-of-demoralization-procedures-by-jennifer-hofmann-reviews-zg85h2x9l|url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210804131246/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/burnt-sugar-by-avni-doshi-the-standardization-of-demoralization-procedures-by-jennifer-hofmann-reviews-zg85h2x9l|archive-date=4 August 2021|access-date=19 September 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Alex Peake-Tomkinson of ''[[The Times Literary Supplement]]'' praised the rapid changes in tone of Doshi's prose for enlivening the novel but largely criticized it for capitulating to an "urge to shock", calling the novel "needlessly depressing" at times.<ref name="TLS">{{Cite web |last=Peake-Tomkinson |first=Alex |date=18 September 2020 |title=Maternal taboos?: Guilt and memory in Avni Doshi's ''Burnt Sugar'' |url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/burnt-sugar-avni-doshi-review-alex-peake-tomkinson/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Times Literary Supplement]]}}</ref> Elle Hunt of ''[[The Guardian]]'' called it "an unsettling, sinewy debut, startling in its venom and disarming in its humour from the very first sentence".<ref name="Guardian" />

=== Accolades ===
The novel was shortlisted for the [[2020 Booker Prize|2020]] [[Booker Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Booker Prize 2020 |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/fiction/2020 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=thebookerprizes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 September 2020 |title=Booker Prize 2020: Four debuts make shortlist as Hilary Mantel misses out |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54158215 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Flood |first1=Alison |last2=Cain |first2=Sian |date=15 September 2020 |title=Most diverse Booker prize shortlist ever as Hilary Mantel misses out |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/15/most-diverse-booker-prize-shortlist-is-also-almost-all-american-hilary-mantel |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Waite-Taylor |first=Eva |date=15 September 2020 |title=Booker Prize 2020: The shortlisted novels you need to read |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/books/fiction-books/booker-prize-2020-shortlist-man-fiction-books-novel-nominees-douglas-stuart-b446659.html |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Judges of the prize called the novel an "utterly compelling read" that "examines a complex and unusual mother-daughter relationship with honest, unflinching realism – sometimes emotionally wrenching but also cathartic, written with poignancy and memorability."<ref>{{Cite web |author=PTI |date=16 September 2020 |title=Indian-origin author Avni Doshi on Booker Prize shortlist |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/indian-origin-author-avni-doshi-on-booker-prize-shortlist/article32618146.ece |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Khanna |first=Aditi |date=16 September 2020 |title=Indian-Origin Author Avni Doshi Shortlisted for Booker Prize |url=https://thewire.in/books/indian-origin-author-avni-doshi-shortlisted-for-booker-prize |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]]}}</ref>

It was longlisted for the 2019 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for Fiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tata Literature Live! First Book Award – Fiction |url=https://tatalitlive.in/awards/tata-literature-live-first-book-award-fiction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422015056/https://tatalitlive.in/awards/tata-literature-live-first-book-award-fiction |archive-date=22 April 2020 |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=Tata Literature Live!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 November 2019 |title=Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest announces longlists for five literary awards |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-mumbai-litfest-announces-longlists-for-five-literary-awards-6099259/ |access-date=19 September 2020 |website=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==
On 5 November 2021, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported that Indian filmmaker [[Deepa Mehta]], known for her [[Elements trilogy|''Elements'' trilogy]], would direct a film adaptation of the novel, with [[Ben Silverman]]'s [[Propagate Content]] producing the film and Carmen Nasr writing the screenplay.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ramachandran|first=Naman|author-link=Naman Ramachandran|date=5 November 2021|title=Deepa Mehta to Direct Adaptation of Avni Doshi's Bestselling Novel 'Burnt Sugar' for Propagate Content|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/deepa-mehta-avni-doshi-burnt-sugar-propagate-1235105686/|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=14 December 2022}}</ref>

A theatre adaptation is also in development by The Lot Productions, who acquired the theatre rights and plan the play to premiere in London during their 2023 season.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bayley|first=Sian|date=5 November 2021|title=Propagate Content snaps up film rights to Doshi's Burnt Sugar|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/propogate-content-snaps-film-rights-doshis-burnt-sugar-1288112|url-access=limited|url-status=live|magazine=[[The Bookseller]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221214071756/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/propogate-content-snaps-film-rights-doshis-burnt-sugar-1288112|archive-date=14 December 2022|access-date=14 December 2022}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girl in White Cotton}}
[[Category:2019 debut novels]]
[[Category:2019 American novels]]
[[Category:2019 Indian novels]]
[[Category:First-person narrative novels]]
[[Category:Literature by Asian-American women]]
[[Category:Novels set in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Pune in fiction]]
[[Category:Novels about ageing]]
[[Category:Novels about Indian women]]
[[Category:Fiction about mother–daughter relationships]]
[[Category:Books about Alzheimer's disease]]
[[Category:Fourth Estate books]]
[[Category:Novels about dementia]]

Girl in White Cotton - Revision history

YvetteSawtell2 at 03:32, 23 April 2026