← Back to Books Library
Book Review ★★★★★

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

by Shehan Karunatilaka Finished January 15, 2023

Fiction
Summary

A dark, satirical afterlife mystery set in 1989 Colombo, following a murdered war photographer given seven moons to solve his own death and expose the horrors of civil war.

Favorite Quote
"The world is not divided into good and evil. It is divided into those who get away with it and those who don't."

I usually do not read fiction but this book was an exception. I read this book after hearing that it won the Booker Prize in 2022. The second person writing style was very engaging and kept me hooked till the end. The relatability to Sri Lankan context, the locations, the political references made it even more interesting to read.

The book made me read more into the history and the political backdrop of Sri Lanka during the civil war. Also, even though this book is fictional, it made me realize that there is no single truth of history, rather many truths depending on who you ask. Different political parties, different ethnic groups, religious groups say different things about the same event. Similar to the survivorship bias, history is also written by the victors.