The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Aoife’s Review:
This book has been on my TBR since 2022 when it won the Booker Prize. The novel follows our deceased protagonist, Maali Almeida, as he journeys through the afterlife, attempting to solve his own murder. The premise of this novel has fascinated me since its publication, and I look forward to finally sinking my teeth into this satire set against the violence and unrest of the Sri Lankan civil war.
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.
