Beggar's Feast

Sam Kandy born to low prospects in a Ceylon village in 1899 dies a hundred years later as the wealthy headman of the same village - a self-made shipping magnate and the father of sixteen who's been married three times and widowed twice. Told in four parts this enthralling novel traces Sam's story from his boyhood - when his parents convinced by his horoscope that he'd be a blight upon the family abandoned him at the gates of a distant temple - through to his dramatic escape from the temple his daring journey across Ceylon to Australia and Singapore and his bold return to the Ceylon village he once called home. There he tries to win recognition for his success in the world - at any cost. A novel about family pride and ambition set on a gorgeous troubled island caught between tradition and modernity Beggar's Feast establishes Boyagoda as a major voice in international literature.