Acclaimed Canadian author Michael Ondaatje to debut new novel ‘Warlight’ in May

NEW YORK – Michael Ondaatje, the celebrated Canadian author behind the acclaimed novel “The English Patient,” will revisit the Second World War in his upcoming book.

McClelland & Stewart announced Thursday that “Warlight” will be released next May.

The novel is set in London in 1945 and tells the story of two young siblings who have been separated from their parents in the aftermath of the Nazi bombings.

“Warlight” is Ondaatje’s first work of fiction since the 2011 release of “The Cat’s Table,” which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Ondaatje was awarded the Booker Prize for “The English Patient,” the 1992 publication later adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche.

The Sri Lankan-born, Toronto-based author’s other books include “In the Skin of a Lion,” and “Anil’s Ghost,” which won the Giller Prize, the Irish Times International Fiction Prize and the Prix Medicis.

McClelland & Stewart publisher Jared Bland described “Warlight” as “a haunting book of immense beauty and insight, filled with unforgettable characters and unknowable mysteries.”

“It is sure to delight his countless readers around the world,” he said in a statement.

— With files from The Canadian Press