Embassy of Sri Lanka hosts Louis de Bernier’s the British author of The Dust That Falls From Dreams part of a trilogy set in Ceylon

The author, Louis de Bernières, was hosted at the Residence of Sri Lanka Ambassador to Türkiye, Hasanthi Urugodawatte Dissanayake recently for a lively interactive session.

He is the best-selling author of ’Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ winning the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Novel in 1994, which was later turned into an award winning Hollywood movie with Penélope Cruz and Nicholas Cage playing leading roles. The story is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian and German occupation of the Second World War.

Louis was invited to Ankara due to the epic novels he has written set in early 20^th century, both in Sri Lanka and Türkiye. He has personal connections to both countries with his mother having lived in Sri Lanka and his grandfather having fought in the Gallipoli battles in Türkiye.

 His most recent books ’The Dust That Falls From Dreams’, formed part of a trilogy set in Ceylon that included ‘So Much Life Left Over’ and ‘The Autumn of the Ace’.  The novel charts the relationship between Rosie and Daniel who have moved to Ceylon with their daughter to start a new life at the dawn of the 1920s, attempting to put the trauma of the First World War behind them. However, even in the lush plantation hills it is hard for them to escape the ties of home and the yearning for the fulfilment that threatens their marriage. Louis explained to the audience that the novel was based on the lives of his Grandparents who resided on a Rubber Plantation in Ceylon in the 1920s and in many ways represented their unhappy marriage.

His acclaimed sixth novel, ’Birds Without Wings’, came out in 2004. Set against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, the Gallipoli campaign and subsequent bitter struggle between Greeks and Turks, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia - a town in which Christian and Muslims lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully for centuries.

His latest novel ‘Light over Liskeard’ was published in 2024. 

The interactive session focused on the novels set on early 20^th century in Sri Lanka and Türkiye and was moderated by Shevanthie Goonesekera, author and art historian of Sri Lankan origin from London. Her book ’Mount Lavinia, The Governor’s Palace’ charted the 200-year history of a former British Governor’s Residence that is now Mount Lavinia Hotel. Shevanthie is currently working on her second book documenting the life and influences of the Russian Artist, Alexander Sofronoff who lived in Ceylon for 13 years. In November 2013 Shevanthie curated her first retrospective exhibition in London, showcasing 38 paintings by Sofronoff at the Russian Cultural Centre .In January 2015 Shevanthie was invited to Jaipur by the Director of the City Palace Museum, where she presented an illustrated lecture of Sofronoff’s journey through India in 1946 at the Maharaja of Jaipur’s former hunting lodge close to the City Palace. She has experience of curating events in London and has worked with a number of Sri Lankan and British writers showcasing their writing, creating a positive platform for Sri Lanka in the UK.

A lively session with Louis de Bernières followed at the Ambassador’s Residence with the author being asked a series of questions on what inspired him to write novels set in Türkiye and Sri Lanka. For the inspiring writers present, Louis was asked about the essential ingredients in creating a good story and how he went about doing his research. Louis provided an insight into how he set about weaving in stories that he had collected when researching his novels. Although Louis’ characters are full of energy they are almost always filled with certain flaws; central to his themes are love, friendship and loss.

Louis explained his stories are based on the lives of ordinary people and how situations beyond their control have a tragic and fundamental impact. His novel ‘Birds Without Wings’ centred around the development of the modern Turkish State and features Kemal Atatürk, focusing on the ways in which World War I lead to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire through the lives of ethnically diverse villagers who lived relatively peacefully until the break out of war. A discussion took place on how Louis represents visual and sensory stimuli such as the natural smells of Türkiye against the opposing smells of death and rotting flesh in the trenches.

Louis also discussed the how he came about conjuring up his curious book titles; Birds Without Wings and The Dust that Falls from Dreams. The latter name in fact came from a song by British songwriter Ralph McTell which Louis asked permission to use for his novel set in Ceylon.  The audience was enthralled by Louis reading two extracts from Birds Without Wings and So Much Life Left Over’.

Louis also shared stories about his mother being stationed in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka during the 2nd World War where she worked for the Royal Navy Signal Core. He explained that during her time in Ceylon he discovered she had written a short romantic story which had been kindly printed by Mount Lavinia Hotel at their Literary Festival ‘Words on the Mount’ held in 2016.

Louis also shared a humorous story about the loyalty shown by his mother’s house boy who protected his mother’s possessions by nailing them down when she fell ill in Ceylon with Dengue fever.

A lively Question and Answer session followed with the members of the audience asking a series of interesting questions. The event continued well into the evening with a delicious Sri Lankan delicacy as well as food and beverages from around the world shared by the audience.

Foreign and Turkish diplomats, expats and many Turkish book lovers attended the event.