There are two passions in the life of award-winning novelist Louis De Bernières: writing and music, writes Andy Richardson.
“I enjoy landscape gardening and mechanical engineering,” he said. It’s a futile protest. The internationally-acclaimed author of the Captain Corelli’s Mandolin will share his two passions with Shropshire followers during an appearance at the Wellington Literary Festival on October 23.
His, however, will be a talk with a difference. On October 23, he’ll appear alongside the talented musician Ilone Antonius-Jones to present readings and music. Their performance will be called A Partisan’s Daughter.
A Partisan’s Daughter was published in Spring and is set in London during the winter of discontent.
It tells the story of Roza, an illegal immigrant from Yugoslavia, and Chris, an unhappy medical salesman. He falls for her as she enchants him with her stories.
To complement the readings, De Bernières and Antonius-Jones will perform Serbian/Eastern European music, some Bob Dylan as well as classical tunes on a variety of instruments.
The format, he hopes, will thrill fans as well as giving him the opportunity to avoid questions and THAT book.
De Bernières says: “We’ve developed this show following the publication of my latest novel. Normally, I’ve done readings where you are followed by the inevitable questions and answers. Somebody always asks ‘What did you think of the film’.”
For three years, De Bernières has been playing with Antonius-Jones, the group formed by Ilone. He plays the flute, mandolin, clarinet and guitar. “I don’t make any claims to virtuosity,” he said.
“I play quite a lot of instruments to reasonable level. But Ilone is a really good, it’s very enjoyable playing alongside her. I love doing the event. The big downside is spending hours on the road, travelling.”
De Bernières, of course, made an instant impact on the literary scene with the publication of his first novel, The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, in 1990. It won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book Eurasia Region in 1991. De Bernières had written poetry for many years, in between working in dead end jobs.
“However, at the age of 35, he smashed his right leg in a terrible motorcycle crash. That left him immobile for six months and he spent the time writing his first novel. “In some ways, it proved to be a fortunate accident. I just sat down and wrote,” he said.
However, it was his fourth book that made him an international best-seller. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was published the following year and became a phenomenal bestseller with sales helped by word-of-mouth recommendations.
It went on to win the Commonwealth Writers Prize, Best Book in 1995 and has now been translated into 36 languages. A major film based on Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was released in 2001.
De Bernières was surprised by the success of his book.
“My first three books were influenced by Latin America. I’d spent a year in Colombia when I was 19-years-old and that left a very heavy imprint on my soul. Everyone else was reading Martin Amis but I was into Garcia Marquez and others. I think you tend to write similar things to what you read, so that’s how the first books came out.
“But for Captain Corelli, I dropped the magic realism. I’d enjoyed that style of writing because it was very liberating, anything could happen.”
De Bernières remains grateful that he enjoyed slow-burning success, rather than dizzying overnight fame. “That’s the best kind of success to have,” he said.
“It’s the best thing from a purely psychological point of view. There was no point where I was shot to fame. It happened slowly and cumulatively. I was spared the madness that descends upon people if they become too successful too fast. Eventually, the press spoiled it by picking up on how popular it had become.”
De Bernières, however, still eschews the kind of celebrity that other authors pursue.
“I don’t mind being well known or famous but I am determined not to be a celebrity. I am not the kind of person who is desperate to get on TV. I avoid it because everybody recognises you for two weeks after you’ve appeared and I don’t want to be bothered while I’m out and about.”
The subsequent film was directed by John Madden and starred Penelope Cruz, John Hurt and Nicolas Cage. It was nominated for a raft of awards and grossed a reported $25 million. However, while the cinematography was gorgeous, the movie played fast and loose with history and the novel it was adapted from.
De Bernières has, in the past, been scathing about it, saying: “It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby’s ears being put on backwards.”
Today, he adopts a broader view: “I am not completely negative about the film. But parts of it were pointless. There were stupid changes, like including a sex scene in the middle of the film. The point is, they don’t become lovers until they are old. But I thought there was a lot of good about it. The cinematography was fantastic and soundtrack exceptionally good. Every frame of the film looked beautiful.”
It’s time for De Bernières to go. Ilone is waiting for him to rehearse in the Vera Fletcher Hall, in Thames Ditton, Outer London.
One last question: Are you looking forward to your visit to Wellington? “Yes, of course. I love music and I love writing, and this show allows me to combine the two. Even if I were not successful, I would still like to spend my life doing those things – the only trouble is, I think I’m much better at writing than I am at playing music.”
In a few days, fans in Wellington can judge for themselves.
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