Louis de Bernières facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Louis de Bernières
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De Bernières, Hatchards, London, 2023
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| Born | 8 December 1954 Woolwich, London, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Period | 1990–present |
Louis de Bernières (born 8 December 1954) is a famous English writer. He is best known for his 1994 book, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. This book is a historical war novel that became very popular.
In 1993, a magazine called Granta chose de Bernières as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists." The next year, Captain Corelli's Mandolin was published and won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. It was also considered for the 1994 Sunday Express Book of the Year award. This book has been translated into at least 11 languages and is a worldwide best-seller.
In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate from De Montfort University in Leicester. He had studied there when it was called Leicester Polytechnic.
Louis de Bernières has also shared his views on politics. He supported the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, a process known as Brexit.
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About Louis de Bernières
Louis H. P. de Bernières-Smart was born near Woolwich in London in 1954. He grew up in Surrey, a county in England. His last name, de Bernières, comes from a French ancestor who was a Huguenot.
He went to Grenham House school and Bradfield College. When he was 18, he joined the army but left after four months of officer training. Later, he studied at the Victoria University of Manchester and the UCL Institute of Education, University of London.
Before becoming a full-time writer, he had many different jobs. He worked as a mechanic, a motorcycle messenger, and an English teacher in Colombia. Since the early 2000s, he has lived in Norfolk, a county in southeast England.
In 2009, he separated from his partner, actress Cathy Gill. They share custody of their children, Robin and Sophie. He has not remarried.
His Love for Music
De Bernières is a big fan of music. He plays several instruments, including the flute, mandolin, clarinet, and guitar. He describes himself as an "enthusiastic but badly-educated and erratic" amateur musician.
Music often appears in his books. For example, his books about Latin America mention the guitar music of Villa-Lobos and Antonio Lauro. In Captain Corelli's Mandolin, he mentions mandolin music by Vivaldi and Hummel. He has a condition called dystonia, which affects his playing.
His Books
Latin American Stories
Louis de Bernières says his time in Colombia and the work of writer Gabriel García Márquez greatly influenced his first three novels. He even calls himself a "Márquez parasite" because of this influence.
His first three books are:
- The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990)
- Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991)
- The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
De Bernières' most famous book is his fourth one, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. The story is about an Italian soldier named Captain Corelli. He is part of the occupying army on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Second World War. In the US, the book was first called Corelli's Mandolin.
In 2001, the book was made into a film. De Bernières was not very happy with the movie version. He once said, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards." However, he did say the film had some good parts, and he especially liked the music.
After the book and movie came out, Cephalonia became a popular place for tourists. The island's tourism industry started using the book's name to attract visitors. De Bernières was not pleased about this. He said, "I was very displeased to see that a bar in Agia Efimia has abandoned its perfectly good Greek name and renamed itself Captain Corelli's, and I dread the idea that sooner or later there might be Captain Corelli Tours, or Pelagia Apartments."
Red Dog
His book Red Dog (2001) was inspired by a statue of a dog he saw in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This book was also made into a film in Australia in 2011.
Birds Without Wings
Birds Without Wings (2004) is set in Turkey. It tells the sad story of different people in a small village. These people speak different languages and have different religions. The story takes place at the end of the Ottoman Empire, during the rise of Kemal Atatürk, and includes the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War from the Turkish side. The book was nominated for the 2004 Whitbread Novel Award and the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize.
A Partisan's Daughter
A Partisan's Daughter (2008) is a story about a relationship between a young woman from Yugoslavia and an older British man. It is set in London in the 1970s.
Notwithstanding
Notwithstanding (2009) is a collection of short stories. These stories are all about a made-up English village called Notwithstanding and its unique residents. Many of these stories were published separately earlier in de Bernières's career.
The village of Notwithstanding is based on Hambledon in Surrey, where he grew up. He often wonders if this village is still the perfect countryside place he remembers. Some of the stories are based on his own life. Notwithstanding has many local details, mentioning nearby villages and towns like Godalming, Chiddingfold, and Haslemere.
Blue Dog
The movie Red Dog: True Blue (2016) was adapted from a screenplay by Daniel Taplitz. This film is a prequel to Red Dog. It tells the story of a boy named Mick who goes to live with his Grandpa in the Australian outback after a sad event. He feels lonely until he finds a lost puppy covered in mud. Mick and his dog quickly become best friends. They go on many adventures together as Mick grows up. Louis de Bernières tells this heartwarming story of a boy, his Grandpa, and their charming dog.
The Daniel Pitt Trilogy
The Daniel Pitt Trilogy includes three novels: The Dust that Falls from Dreams (2015), So Much Life Left Over (2018), and The Autumn of the Ace (2020). These books follow the life of the main character, Daniel Pitt, who was a flying ace in World War I. The story also follows the McCosh family through the 20th century. This series was greatly inspired by de Bernières' own grandfather's life.
