2022 Booker Prize winner: ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan Karunatilaka, published by Sort of Books
Against the backdrop of murderous mayhem in Sri Lanka, beset by civil war, comes Karunatilaka’s second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Full of ghosts and gags, the novel dissects the dark side of Sri Lanka’s history and it’s full of energy.
Taking the reader on a rollercoaster journey, chair of judges Neil MacGregor described it as being an “entirely serious philosophical romp that takes the reader to ‘the world’s dark heart’ – the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka”. Once there, the title works to expose “tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life”.