The 2022 Booker Prize Goes to ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka
When Ghosts of the Past Grapple with the Ghosts of the Present…
The literary world is a-buzz with the news that ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ by Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 2022 Booker Prize – a powerful story about the many tragedies and political unrest in Sri Lanka told in a remarkable way.
Here are some snippets from the Booker site, including questions answered by Karunatilaka.
What was the starting point for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida? Was it a slowburn idea or a moment of clarity? What made you want to write this particular book now?
I began thinking about it in 2009, after the end of our civil war, when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was. A ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective seemed a bizarre enough idea to pursue, but I wasn’t brave enough to write about the present, so I went back 20 years, to the dark days of 1989.
One reviewer described The Seven Moons… as ‘part ghost story, part whodunnit, part political satire’. Is that a fair description, or are there other significant ‘parts’ that potential readers should know about?
Three balls is plenty to be juggling. So yes we had the mystery, the afterlife and the politics to balance the narrative. But there’s also a love triangle at the heart of this, some tender relationships and a fair bit of ghostly philosophizing. Though hopefully the reader is too caught up in the story to notice the many moving parts.
We eagerly await reading this book which is going to be published in the US.
Shehan Karunatilaka is considered one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors. In addition to his novels he has written rock songs, screenplays and travel stories.
