Talking to the Sky by Rizvina Morseth de Alwis

Rizvina Morseth de Alwis has launched Talking to the Sky, a novel following a mother's search for her missing son in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings.

The book was launched at the Royal Colombo Golf Club on 9 October, according to the launch announcement. It centres on Aisha Hamid, a Malay woman married into a traditional Muslim household, whose son Aqib disappears after the attacks.

Aisha's search unfolds amid suspicion and fear, bringing her into conflict with secrets affecting her family, community and understanding of herself. The narrative explores faith, belonging and the relationship between political events and private lives.

De Alwis described writing the novel as an attempt to examine the varied experiences of being Muslim in contemporary Sri Lanka. She also connected the characters' questions about belief with her own experiences of ambivalence and a desire to belong.

University of Colombo Senior Professor of English Neluka Silva, the guest speaker at the launch, discussed the book's treatment of ethnic stereotypes and its use of different perspectives. She presented those features as an invitation for readers to examine their assumptions about other communities.

Sam Perera of Perera and Hussein Publishing House described the subject as sensitive and linked the novel to the publisher's interest in fiction that combines storytelling with social questions.

The Sri Lankan-born author writes fiction and non-fiction and has worked in several countries with the United Nations Population Fund.

Her debut novel, It's not in the stars, received the Fairway National Literary Award for 2015 and the State Literary Award for 2016, according to her biographical account. Talking to the Sky, her second novel, was shortlisted in manuscript form for the 2021 Gratiaen Prize.

The book is advertised through Perera and Hussein and at bookstores including Barefoot and Sarasavi.