The Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker Prize in 2022 with his novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (2022).
Karunatilaka’s newest book tells the story of Almeida, that dies and tries to navigate the afterlife with his “seven moons.” Furthermore, with his unique ability, Almeida needs to use them to know who killed him. Not only that, but he also has to unveil the mysterious cache of his photos that exposes the cruelty of war. Throughout his journey, Almeida encounters maimed and mutilated victims of sectarian violence.
Other nominees for this award are:
- NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory (2022)
- Percival Everett’s The Trees (2021)
- Alan Garner’s Treacle Walker (2021)
- Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These (2021)
- Elizabeth Strout’s Oh William! (2021)
Behind the scenes of Karunatilaka’s novel
Additionally, Karunatilaka shared that he decided to write “a ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective” back in 2009.
The story is set at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, “when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was.”
The judges’ comment on The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (2022)
The head judge, Neil MacGregor, sings praises of Karunatilaka’s well-deserved win. He says, “the scope and the skill, the daring, the audacity and hilarity” of the novel is an “afterlife noir” that “takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey through life and death.”
Expectantly, the judges’ decisions were unanimous. All the shortlisted books were “(…) about one question, and that is what’s the point of an individual life?”
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (2022) is Karunatilaka’s hope for clarity and change
Moreover, in his acceptance speech, Karunatilaka voices, “My hope is that in the not-too-distant future… Sri Lanka has understood that these ideas of corruption and race-baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work.”
This is Karunatilaka’s second book after winning numerous awards for his debut novel, Chinaman, including the Commonwealth Book Prize. It is crowned “the second best cricket book of all time” by the Wisden cricketers’ almanack.
Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, The New York Times