Romesh Gunesekera, Heaven's Edge

Melanie Ann Murray (Independent Scholar - Europe)

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Ed. by Birte Heidemann, Technische Universität Dresden
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.4: Sri Lankan Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Birte Heidemann (Technische Universität Dresden), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2002

Places

Sri Lanka (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Romesh Gunesekera is a diasporic writer originally from Sri Lanka, now living in London.

Heaven’s Edge

is his third novel and, although set on an unnamed island, the setting reminds of Sri Lanka. It is a journey of self-discovery as the protagonist, Marc, travels to the war-torn island to find the former home of his grandfather, Eldon, and the place where his father, Lee, had been shot down in a fighter plane. Given the multiple allusions, the story can be read as a parallel search for Sri Lanka’s identity during the ethnic conflict between 1983 and 2009.

Heaven’s Edge

can be considered as a quest for peace where heaven and earth meet metaphorically (Murray 2009, 120), setting the scene for a philosophical debate. The pacifist motif is determined at the very beginning of the book by…

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1536 words

Citation: Murray, Melanie Ann. "Heaven's Edge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9057, accessed 03 April 2025.]

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