Noontide Toll

In postwar Sri Lanka, a hired driver observes his passengerstourists, soldiers, businessmen, and othersin these linked stories by a master storyteller (The New York Times). Vasantha retired early, bought himself a van, and now works as a driver for hire. As he drives through Sri Lanka, carrying aid workers, entrepreneurs, and visiting families; meeting lonely soldiers and eager hoteliers, he engages them with self-deprecating wit and folksy wisdomwhile revealing to us their uncertain lives with piercing insight. On his journey from the army camps in northern Jaffna to the moonlit ramparts of Galle, in the south, Vasantha slowly discovers the depth of his countrys troublesas well as his ownwhile catching a glimmer of the promise the future might hold. From the Booker Prizeshortlisted author of Reef comes a collection of gracefully crafted road stories that draws a potent portrait of postwar Sri Lanka and the ghosts of civil war (TheGuardian). Praise for Romesh Gunesekera Monkfish Moon strikes the reader like a hammer blow. . . . Gunesekeras subtly erotic prose animates Sri Lankas natural luxuriance, veined with menace. Voice Literary Supplement