"a multifaceted, engrossing story⦠Prepare for a verbal feast that will thoroughly entertain and satisfy, yet leave you hungering for more." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ". a parable for modernized, globalized, restless identity." - New York Journal of Books "Boyagoda does a superb job of telling this century-long tale. It's entertaining, with much insight into the life and times of that era in the East. Recommended." - Historical Novels Review "Rags-to-riches narratives seldom have much humbler starting points than the Ceylon village where Beggar's Feast's protagonist is born ⦠He's Naipaul's Mr. Biswas as unapologetic success rather than embittered failure, Richler's Duddy Kravitz followed far past his apprenticeship.
If you've found a place in your heart for either of those complicated figures, make way for Sam Kandy." - The Gazette "Boyagoda, a sharp and subtle writer, slips easily into many different characters' heads and their internal rhythms, and lyrical lines abound ⦠A satirical feast." - The Globe and Mail "[Boyagoda's narrative voice] is as lush as the tropical landscape of Ceylon ⦠The language is also charged with vitality and allows for the emergence, from time to time, of stark human truths." - National Post.