THE GOVERNOR'S LOVER

CEYLON 1805

Life was difficult for Lovinia as the half-Sinhalese, half-Portuguese lead dancer in her father’s dance troupe. But when she catches the eye of the newly arrived Governor of the Crown Colony of Ceylon, her fortunes change dramatically.

The autocratic Governor, smitten by Lovinia’s obvious charms but wary of the disapprovals of a narrow-minded British society, builds a stately country mansion on a promontory overlooking the sea close to the village of Galkissa, just a few miles south of Colombo, where she lives. An underground tunnel from the mansion’s cellar allows Lovinia to visit him regularly to conduct their affair secretly.

Life on the island is colourful and exotic, but an undercurrent of violence beneath the bright façade brings excitement and danger to her life. Lovinia is caught up in a treacherous mission and is torn between two very different lives.

Will she follow her head or her heart?

"(This) well-researched novel combines historical facts with spell-binding fiction, and you have a real page-turner. It immerses the reader into life in Ceylon during the early 1800s, painting a vivid picture of the opulent colonial lifestyle enjoyed by the ruling British class against a backdrop of poverty, anger and resentment among the locals who have lost their country to the European invaders. So well presented are the areas in question that they force the reader to see the country in a new way and appreciate the historical significance of these neighbourhoods.

Surrounding the two main protagonists is a cast of equally intriguing characters who are each worthy of a story. They help to provide depth and texture and give the reader a real appreciation for life during those times.

The author's experience growing up in Ceylon and his knowledge of the country have allowed him to put the reader right in the middle of the events in the story. His effortless writing style, carried through this novel and all his previous novels, creates a sense of excitement through its unexpected twists and turns."

Amazon Review

THE SULLEN HILLS

Sri Lanka: 1987

Civil war is threatening to tear the island nation of Sri Lanka apart.

One of David’s intelligence operatives’ stumbles across a plot by a group of tea estate workers to establish an independent state in the middle of the country. David, on active duty in the north, must convince his superiors that the threat in the hill country is real but then something goes terribly wrong.

Priyani in her role as an international relief coordinator, must contend with David’s continued absence and a terrible humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting in the north. Having to deal with a bloated government bureaucracy and the blatant corruption of the Indian Peace Keeping Forces makes her job extremely challenging and dangerous.

Sami unhappy with his life in a refugee camp, worries about his sister who misses their mother and grandparents still trapped in the embattled city of Jaffna. Hoping to get some news about his family, he agrees to travel to the north on a secret mission for the government. The mission takes on a new urgency as he races to rescue a young woman he believed to be dead.

The Sullen Hills, the second party of Roderic Grigson's Sacred Tears Trilogy, and continues the evocative depiction of Sri Lanka's great beauty and recent tumultuous history which began with his original Sacred Tears novel.

This story will take you inside this ancient nation, to the heart of a gripping human struggle.

AFTER THE FLAMES

Sri Lanka: a country torn apart by a long and brutal civil war…

A bitter, angry mechanic sits in an old Ford Escort parked in the central bus terminal during evening rush hour, knowing he’s about to die in the next few minutes. Devastated by what’s happened to his young family in his home town, Nadesan doesn’t want anyone living in the capital city to ever feel safe again. A local traffic policeman angrily raps on the car window, gesturing at him to move the vehicle.

What happens next finds him running for his life across the city pursued by a para-military hit-squad headed by a dangerous ex-soldier. Ordered to find and kill the men responsible for setting off car bombs across the country, his military training makes him very good at doing his job, yet Tilak grapples with hate that he loves it so much.

In the nearby general hospital, a compassionate and dedicated doctor struggles to deal with the pain and suffering caused by these terrible explosions. Could Amanthi be the one to bridge the gap between these two men … but will it be enough for them to change their ways?

Three very different people, their stories winding around each other like strands of barbed wire through the tragedy of a vicious civil war, by the choices they make in their life…

SACRED TEARS

1982

Sami is far from home, trapped in war-torn Beirut, a city under siege by the Israelis. All he wants is to go home to his family in Sri Lanka but in order to stay alive he must learn to kill.

David, a captain in the Sri Lankan army, is sent to the steamy jungles in the north of the country as punishment for an indiscretion and is thrown into the brutal insurrection by militant separatist Tamil Tigers. As civil war erupts in Sri Lanka and tears this once peaceful nation apart, David's love, the beautiful Priyani makes a difficult choice and the paths of these two men cross on opposing sides of the struggle.

They must plumb the depths of their courage and question their beliefs about right and wrong.

Sacred Tears, the first novel in Roderic Grigson's Sacred Tears Trilogy.

Roderic Grigson