LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2022

A fierce satire set amid the murderous chaos of Sri Lanka afflicted by civil war.

Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler, and closeted gay man, wakes up dead in what seems to be a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake, and he has no idea who killed him. In a time when accounts are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired assassins, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as attested by the ghosts and grudges accumulating around him.

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 shock Sri Lanka.

Ten years after his award-winning novel Chinaman that established him as one of Sri Lanka's foremost writers, Karunatilaka returns with an epic triumph filled with sharp humor and disturbing truths.

Pages: 400, Year of Publication: 0815, Dimensions: 13.4x13.4cm