The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Winner of the Booker Prize 2022
By Shehan Karunatilaka
Harry Hartog's review
Maali-Almeida: war photographer, gambler, closet gay - wakes up dead. Colombo, 1990, Sri Lanka: war-torn, corrupt, and crowded even in the afterlife. Maali has seven moons to find his killer and lead the two loves of his life to the photos he’s taken that will rock Sri Lanka to its core, or so he thinks. A profound and jarring novel. His journey through the afterlife takes you to the heart of Sri Lanka - to the most unforgiving and violent of places, to salvage what truth is left to find. - Malsha, Harry Hartog Macquarie
Description
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2022
Now with added author content - a Map of Colombo as viewed from the afterlife + Dramatis Personae
A magical realism whodunnit set amid Sri Lanka's civil war
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest.
But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to try and contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos that will rock Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's foremost author delivers a rip-roaring epic, full of mordant wit and disturbing truths.
'Recalls the mordant wit and surrealism of Gogol and Bulgakov.' - Guardian
'Outstanding... the most significant work of Sri Lankan fiction in a decade.' - New European
- ISBN:
- 9781914502071
- Format:
- Paperback
- Pages:
- 432
- Published:
- Publisher:
- Sort of Books
- Imprint:
- Sort of Books
- Weight:
- 340 g