“Witty, creative, and touching!”
The Booker Prize, one of the world's top three literary awards

The 2022 Booker Prize winner, The Seven Moons of Mali, has been published by Influential.
The Booker Prize is considered one of the world's three most prestigious literary awards, along with the Nobel Prize in Literature and France's Prix Goncourt, and is the highest honor given to an English-language novel published in the UK that year.
When the name of Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka was announced, the global publishing world was abuzz.
The Seven Moons of Mali, which has been praised as a “witty, creative and moving” portrayal of one of the darkest periods in modern Sri Lankan history, became a British bestseller and was selected as a “Book of the Year” by major media outlets around the world, including The Guardian, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Marley Almeida, the ghost of Colombo who awakens after a mysterious death
The truth must be revealed before seven moons pass!

The protagonist, Marley Almeida, was murdered.
Waking up as a ghost, he has no memory of where, how, or how he came to be, and stands in line at the 'afterlife counter' with other dead people in Sri Lanka.
I hear the guide's explanation that I can be reborn if I organize my past life and enter the 'light' within seven days, before the seven moons rise and set, but something feels uneasy.
It seemed like he still had work to do, and above all, he didn't believe in the overly businesslike appearance of the afterlife.
As Mali wanders the world, waiting for the remaining time, she is gripped by fear when she sees her friends searching everywhere for her missing self.
This is Sri Lanka, a country suffering from civil war between the government and rebels.
In the capital city of Colombo, a death squad backed by a corrupt dictator was kidnapping people, torturing them, and imprisoning them under the pretext of rooting out communists.
And countless people who went missing never returned home alive.
As Mali remembers taking a world-shaking photograph in northern Sri Lanka during the height of civil war, she finally begins to understand why she died, and realizes that her friends who are chasing her now-missing disappearance are also in danger.
Still imperfect memories, time flowing by so annoyingly.
Mali, a natural-born gambler, attempts one last gamble, risking his soul.
Even if it means owing an unpayable debt to the evil spirits that roam the middle ground of Sri Lanka.

"The Seven Moons of Mali" is a wonderful detective novel that tells the story of Marley Almeida, who searches for his killer, the reason for his death, and the whereabouts of the missing film.
It is also an excellent historical novel that condenses the long and complex modern history of Sri Lanka with surprisingly smooth skill.
It can also be seen as a poignant romance novel that confesses a love that was not allowed and atones for a love that was neglected.
Author Shehan Karunatilaka satirizes the tragedy of Sri Lanka through the dry, cynical tone and black humor of a person who does not belong to any of the groups, through the protagonist who is a photographer, a gambler, a man of mixed Sinhalese and Tamil descent, and a queer identity.
And the diverse use of unique characters—villains, helpers, and ghosts—allows the unfamiliar history of a foreign land to be accepted as an entertaining drama.
It is also noteworthy that the second-person narrative follows the confused perspective of Mali, who has lost her memory and is wearing a broken camera around her neck.
The portrait of an era observed and captured through the lens of an omniscient yet indirect ghost's gaze penetrates our hearts more intensely than any truth.

Listen to the voice that comes from far away
Confronting the Deep-Rooted Grief of Sri Lanka

The Seven Moons of Mali was first published in the Indian subcontinent several years ago under the title Chats with the Dead.
Shehan Karunatilaka had hoped to publish in the British and American markets (which are partly responsible for the chaos in Sri Lanka), but no publisher was willing to take on a novel that explored the unfamiliar modern history, religion, and philosophy of Sri Lanka.
Then, a small British publisher, Sort of Books, suggested that the book be reedited and published, and after about a year of revisions, it was published under the title The Seven Moons of Mali.
This book, which received rave reviews for its smooth plot and clear message, achieved global success as mentioned above.

Sri Lanka finally achieved independence after suffering from 440 years of colonial rule by the Dutch, Portuguese, and British.
But the tragedy wasn't over.
Soon after, a war broke out between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil people, and Sri Lanka began to suffer from various foreign interventions, including the intervention of the United States to check communist forces.
In 2009, the 25-year civil war ended, but better days did not come.
Since then, the dictatorship of a corrupt political family has continued, and the fundamental cause of the conflict has not been resolved.
In 2022, it will declare default.
Shehan Karunatilaka sent a letter to Korean readers to mark the publication of the Korean edition.
It contains a tribute to the Republic of Korea, which has experienced a similar past of numerous invasions, colonial rule, and civil war, but has taken a different path, and a pledge as a Sri Lankan to never give up hope for the future.
The translator of this book, So-Young Yoo, adds a brief explanation of the first Sri Lankan civil war, which is the background of the work, to help readers understand.
He then wrote in his review, “It is a story that begins with deep anger and pain about history, but the ending, which remembers the victims, comforts their souls, and never forgets the most fundamental problem of human existence, leaves a deeply moving impression.”


■ Main characters

Marley Almeida: The protagonist.
Dead photographer.
Gone but not forgotten.

[The Living]
Dylan: The love that was not allowed into Marley's life.
Jackie: The love that Marley neglected.

Elsa: An activist disguised as a con artist.
Kuga: A conman disguised as an activist.
Minister Cyril: Minister of Justice, Sri Lanka.
Leader of the crowd.
Crowman: The Shaman.
Whispers of the soul.
The purveyor of curses.

[The Dead]
Dr. Lani: A guide who leads the dead to the light.
Senna: A Marxist murdered by the state.
Mahakali: The Black Heart of the Universe.


■ Author's Note

“I hope that one day I will see this novel, which deals with the war and division of my country, in the fantasy section of a bookstore.” _Shehan Karunatilaka

“This story begins with deep anger and pain about history, but its ending, which remembers the victims, consoles their souls, and never forgets the most fundamental questions of human existence, leaves a deeply moving impression.” _Translator: Yoo So-young