The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Doshi, Avni. Burnt Sugar. Penguin Random House, 2020.

Avni Doshi's Burnt Sugar follows Antara's first person narrative. The novel is divided into a series of untitled and unnumbered sections which move back and forth between Antara's past and present circumstances. The following summary adopts a linear plot structure.

Not long after Antara is born, her wild mother, Tara, grows restless. Tired of living with her new husband and mother-in-law, she takes Antara and flees for the local ashram. While growing up in the community, Antara feels distant from her mother. Tara's affair with the ashram leader, Baba, consumes all of her time and distracts her from her maternal responsibilities. After Baba discards Tara, Tara despairs, fleeing the ashram with Antara for a life on the streets. Eventually Antara's unnamed father collects them, leaving them in her grandparents, Nana and Nani's care. Shortly thereafter, Antara's father divorces Tara. Now a young girl, Antara is soon sent to boarding school, where she experiences a litany of abuses. Her hospitalization leads her grandparents to withdraw her from the institution.

Antara and Tara then move to an apartment near the ashram. Though Antara is in a new school, she still has few friends, and feels a constant sense of alienation. Her mother's constant criticism worsens her sense of self. When Antara is a teenager, Tara falls in love with a former photojournalist and waiter, Reza. He moves in with them not long afterwards. Tara declares herself truly in love for the first time, burdening Antara with the responsibility of retaining Reza's loyalty. Antara learns to hate her mother, and feels no remorse when Reza abandons them six years after moving in.

When Antara is a young woman, she moves to Bombay to pursue an art degree. She drops out when she realizes she will have to paint and draw. She stays in the city, happy to be free of her mother. One night, while attending a gallery event, Antara runs into Reza. The two take drugs and have sex. A four year affair ensues. During their relationship, Antara becomes afraid of losing Reza again, and steals a photo of him. Not long later, Reza again disappears.

Years later, while living in her home city of Pune again, Antara meets Dilip. After dating for a brief time, they get married. Two years into their relationship, Antara discovers that her mother is losing her memory. The doctors are unable to provide a conclusive diagnosis. Tara's ambiguous condition makes Antara skeptical. She wonders how much of Tara's odd behavior is an act.

Meanwhile, Antara tries focusing on her ongoing art project, in which she copies the same man's face over and over. She tells everyone the original reference photo is of a stranger, and that she lost it long ago. Then, when Antara and Dilip invite Tara to stay the night, Tara begins shouting about Antara's work, insisting the sketches are hurting her. That night, Tara lights all of Antara's sketches on fire, destroying her studio.

In the weeks following, Antara loses her sense of control. She cannot help her mother, and she fears her relationship with Dilip is worsening. Feeling purposeless and alone, she decides to have a baby. Though she thinks the baby will solve her problems, Antara soon learns the opposite is true. She gives birth to a baby girl, and is immediately plunged into a heightened sense of despair. She cannot care for the baby, and fears that the child is imprisoning her.

Then one night, during a visit with family and friends, Antara becomes convinced her mother's illness is a trick. By pretending to lose her memory and her mind, Antara believes, Tara has successfully erased Antara from her own life.