Baku, May 27, AZERTAC Author Geetanjali Shree has become the first Indian to win the International Booker Prize for her novel, Tomb of Sand, originally written in Hindi, according to Al Jazeera.The book tells the story of an 80-year-old widow who dares to cast off convention and confront the ghosts of her experiences during the subcontinent’s tumultuous partition into India and Pakistan in 1947.The novel, originally titled Ret Samadhi, was the first Hindi book to be shortlisted for the high-profile award, which recognises fiction from around the world that has been translated into English.The 50,000-pound ($63,000) prize money will be split between New Delhi-based Shree and her American translator Daisy Rockwell.“I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could,” Shree said in an acceptance speech quoted by the Press Trust Of India.“What a huge recognition. I am amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled.”Shree’s book beat five other finalists including Polish Nobel literature laureate Olga Tokarczuk, Claudia Piñeiro of Argentina and South Korean author Bora Chung to be awarded the prize at a ceremony in London.The International Booker Prize is awarded every year to a translated work of fiction published in the UK or Ireland. It is run alongside the Booker Prize for English-language fiction.