Description

A FINANCIAL TIMES, PROSPECT MAGAZINE and GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

An Irish Times Best Book of 2023, as chosen by Sally Hayden and Mia Levitin

‘A murdered mother’s fight for truth and justice lives on through the words of her youngest son’ Angelina Jolie

‘Essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy’ Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Twilight of Democracy and Red Famine

‘An unforgettable profile in courage . . . Riveting and inspiring’ Bill Browder, bestselling author of Freezing Order

When Paul Caruana Galizia was at work in London, his eldest brother called to say their mother Daphne had just been assassinated. That day, he returned to their native Malta and, with his two brothers and their father, began a quest to discover who was responsible for Daphne’s murder and who stood to profit from ending the life of a journalist whose courage and determination threatened the powerful with the truth. Two years later, they did.

A Death in Malta is more than an investigation into the life and assassination of Daphne by her son Paul. It’s an examination of the globalisation of corruption and what it has done to a modern European country; it’s about that country’s escape from colonialism to another kind of arrogant power; it’s a personal history of writing when the stakes are high and the intimidation is violent. Above all, it’s a universal homage to mothers and their sons.

Publisher Review

Paul Caruana Galizia is a superb storyteller. His book reads at times like a thriller, at times like a detective story, and at times like the work of an investigative journalist uncovering webs of corruption, with levels of detail that will be most interesting to those who understand Malta, its systems and flaws . . . A moving testament to the life and work of an extraordinary woman and the country-changing power of journalism — Christina Patterson * Sunday Times * A superbly honest and very painful account. Paul Caruana Galizia has given his mother a new and even more lasting monument: a book that is unforgettable, beautifully written, and deeply honest — John Simpson * Guardian * A work of rare vividness and authority, devastatingly told * Financial Times * Daphne Caruana Galizia was a trailblazer, exposing the kleptocratic practices of Malta’s elite – the same practices now found all across Europe and North America. The story of her heroic life, her tragic death and its aftermath, told by her son, are essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of democracy — Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACY and RED FAMINE A murdered mother’s fight for truth and justice lives on through the words of her youngest son — Angelina Jolie An unforgettable profile in courage: that of a journalist who risked her life to hold power and corruption to account; and that of her family, whose fight for justice exemplifies the intensity and ingenuity we must bring to the defense of democracy wherever the tide rises against it. Riveting and inspiring — Bill Browder, bestselling author of FREEZING ORDER Paul Caruana Galizia’s story of how his mother died fighting the mafia takeover of her country is full of anger, determination and passion. It is crucial reading for anyone worried about how dirty money is undermining democracy, and who wants to know how to stop it — Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of BUTLER TO THE WORLD This riveting memoir is [Paul Caruana Galizia’s] rallying homage to a bravely unconventional mother whose hounding for her efforts to expose corruption left her feeling she was living in a modern-day version of “The Crucible” — Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice * Read this book. An important and vital work, it not only highlights the critical role of investigative journalism but also a family’s remarkable tenacity and resilience. If you liked RED NOTICE you will love this. A page turner — Thomas Harding, author of THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE An instant classic of political true crime that will make readers’ blood boil * Publishers Weekly * A must-read for anyone who wants to understand what it takes to be an iconoclast and a trailblazer, but also how growing impunity in a state can mount a feeling of responsibility on an individual in ways that may be necessary for some preservation of democracy . . . a compelling and essential book — Sally Hayden * Irish Times * A testament to journalism at its most vital . . . The book’s depiction of the mores of a restrictive society and the determination of a talented woman to break it open is inspiring and often moving . . . Paul Caruana Galizia writes excellently, vividly. A Death in Malta amply merits plaudits — Oliver Kamm * Tortoise * Daphne’s life & legacy are ably captured … An eye opener for those who know little about the country of Malta . . . Sharp and stark * New York Times * Narrates both Daphne’s riveting, inspiring life and death and her family’s crusade to hold accountable those responsible for her assassination. A story Daphne that would have been proud to have written,
it is told powerfully and intimately by her son, the award-winning journalist Paul Caruana Galizia * Committee to Protect Journalists * In A Death in Malta, Paul, the youngest of her three sons and a journalist himself, writes movingly about his mother and her work, as well as his family’s ongoing pursuit of justice . . . A Death in Malta expertly lays bare the island’s webs of corruption and hate, explaining how Caruana Galizia came to be killed and how the state tried to shield those behind her death * The Economist * Paul’s story, told in a clear and vivid narrative, has all the elements of a political thriller. But in the real world the story is not over. A Death in Malta is an indictment of our global financial system – and of the institutions that supposedly exist to protect us from its worst effects * Times Literary Supplement * The story of an amazing journalist [and] a son’s homage to his mother. It must have been so hard to write — Christiane Amanpour [A] riveting page-turner . . . Caruana Galizia’s style is articulate, well-turned and, at times, somewhat poetic. His message is direct and makes us face the truth about our country. A book seriously worth reading. * Times of Malta * The horror of Paul’s book is not that it tells the story of a woman scapegoated for her revelations of corruption. It’s that it shows her holocaust was not possible without a long, shameful, collective social degradation . . . Incendiary * Times of Malta * A Death in Malta is a chronicle of the sort of silencing-by-murder that we might have thought happens only in Vladimir Putin’s Russia . . . A son’s distraught but beautiful tribute to his journalist-mother * Wall Street Journal * A Death in Malta is a gripping account of the life and murder of his mother, Daphne, a journalist who exposed corruption — Mia Levitin * Irish Times – The best books of 2023 * [Paul Caruana Galizia’s] mother was the crusading journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who fought corruption in her home country and was murdered in 2017 as a result. In Paul, it is clear, she has the perfect writer to tell her story – and, in fact, continue her legacy. * Prospect Magazine * [A] touching, well-written and sober book charts the ways in which attempts to uncover seediness and criminality in the age of the internet have become extremely costly . . . Daphne was an extremely brave woman * Prospect Magazine, Books of the Year 2023 * Daphne Caruana Galizia devoted her life to exposing corruption at the upper reaches of Maltese society and government. It got her killed. Her son, an accomplished journalist himself, has reconstructed his mother’s death and its aftermath to ask pointed questions of Malta, an EU member. * The Globe and Mail, ‘Best Books of 2023’ *