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| Louis de Bernieres at the Guernsey Literary Festival |
He began his talk with a never-before-heard short story about an actress and a priest, that had us all rolling with laughter. 'This is funny and a bit silly but I've only just written it and you are the first to hear it so you can make up your minds,' he said. Based in Norfolk, where the author now lives, it follows the mixed fortunes of Roman Catholic priest Papa De Lyon, (my spelling) , known locally as 'Paper Lion' and a long retired eccentric actress who wants to convert to Catholicism on her own rather bizarre terms. Louis de Bernieres is, of course, famous for his prurient sense of humour and on this he didn't disappoint.
An adult author, his one children's book Red Dog, written in 2002 and set in Western Australia, was presumed to be for adults and therefore treated as such, much to his amusement. It was made into an Australian film two years ago. Fans of his novels know they are written as stand-alone chapters that subtly connect to make a whole. Deceptively easy to read they are clearly far more complicated to write and include The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Birds Without Wings, Senor Viva and the Coco Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. I am currently reading A Partisan's Daughter (a paper version, signed by the author, of course) a wonderful mixture of sadness, perception and joy which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award in 2008.
After the talk I asked Louis de Bernieres if he thought that the future lay in digital publishing. He smiled, raised a copy of one of his novels and said 'Whatever happens we will always have these.'
I do hope he's right.
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