When Maali is not working, he spends the majority of his time gambling. He works for the army, for the Associated Press, and a range of other news services. He primarily works as a conflict photojournalist, covering the wars, violence, and political atrocities that define contemporary life in 1980s Sri Lanka. When Maali discovers his mother's meddling, he largely severs his ties with her.Īs a young man, Maali pursues a career in photojournalism. Amma intercepted these notes and kept them from Maali. He does not learn until much later that Dada has in fact written him consistent letters following his departure. Over the course of the following years, Maali holds a grudge against his absent father. When Maali is still a young boy, his father leaves his mother. Maali's childhood is therefore defined by these conflicts. His parents have a tumultuous marriage and are constantly fighting. Maali Almeida grows up with his father and mother, Dada and Amma, in a house in Bambalapitiya, a neighborhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The following summary relies upon a linear, streamlined mode of explanation. The author takes creative and inventive liberties with point of view, structure, form, and conventional notions of the novelistic plot line throughout. However, because the novel is a work of magical realism, the narrative setting is also defined by the main character Maali's journeys in the Afterlife, a realm referred to as the In Between throughout the novel.

The novel is set in 1980s Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shehan Karunatilaka's novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is written from the protagonist Maali Almeida's second person point of view. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Karunatilaka, Shehan.

The seven moons of maali almeida kindle