Author Description

Lavinia, written by a young writer in the forefront of Sri Lankan fiction today, is based on a forbidden love saga of a British governor and an untouchable native dancer. Set during the turbulent colonial politics in 19th century Ceylon, the English rulers tried their best to erase the evidence of this controversial love affair that embarrassed the Crown, to keep it a secret from the outside world. When the liaison became public knowledge Governor Sir Thomas Maitland was transferred with immediate effect to Malta where he died as a bachelor at the age of 64. The British war veteran left two everlasting monuments to immortalize the beauty who was the daughter of a Portuguese soldier and an untouchable woman. Little else is known about Maitland's lover except for the Mount Lavinia Hotel, his former residence bearing the low-caste dancer's name, and the remains of a 600-metre secret underground tunnel that he built to facilitate their secret trysts. It is also the story of four generations of abused untouchable women who were barred from covering their upper body as a punishment of an ancient king and their emancipation under Governor Maitland.