Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, won the 2022 International Booker Prize for Translated Fiction. The book is published by Tilted Axis Press and the author is represented by the Astier-Pécher Literary and Film Agency in Paris.
The 739-page novel follows the adventures of an 80-year-old woman who, following the death of her husband, travels from northern India to Pakistan to confront childhood trauma. It is the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the International Booker, and the first novel translated from Hindi to be honored by the award.
"This is a luminous novel of India and partition, but one whose spellbinding brio and fierce compassion weaves youth and age, male and female, family and nation into a kaleidoscopic whole," said Frank Wynne, chair of the judges. He noted in an online conference that the book was the "overwhelming" choice of the judges as best book, beating out several notable shortlisted titles, including The Book of Jacob by Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk. He also called it a small "miracle of translation" due to the length of the book and the novel's wordplay.
The International Booker Prize is awarded every year for a book that is translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland. The author and translator split a prize of £50,000 ($63,000).
