He is also the author of The Sandglass, (winner of the inaugural BBC Asia Award) and Heaven's Edge which like his collection of stories, Monkfish Moon, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His first novel Reef was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize. “Not a word is wasted or a detail extraneous in the clenched, explosive vignettes Mr. Romesh Gunesekera was born in Sri Lanka and lives in Britain. “It’s one of the trickiest acts to pull off, the turning of political comment or observation into a believable, character-driven novel, but Gunesekera manages it beautifully.” - Sunday Herald “In a postwar Sri Lanka convulsed by its wounds and scars, Vasantha, the protagonist in this remarkable collection of linked stories, provides the perfect compassionate guide.” -Shyam Selvadurai, author of Funny Boy “ will draw a new generation of readers to this most sympathetic of writers, graced with a poet’s vision as well as an abiding sense of justice.” - The Irish Times

snapshots capture the island’s terrors and its treasures, and give you an insider’s view of the many outsiders drawn to this troubled nation.” - The Guardian “The book is an elegant balancing act and a pleasure to read. Vasantha is a great listener and observer of life’s ironies his excursions into civil warland take him into a living history mined with guilt, hope, brutality, and love.” -Amitava Kumar, author of Husband of a Fanatic This is Romesh Gunesekera at his lyrical best. Out of the blasted landscape of war, the explosion of language. “These stories have all the beauty and poignance of graveyard flowers.

Reef by romesh gunesekera