New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) The grand old storyteller from Africa, Wilbur Smith, has moved to the high seas with his new novel, a gripping account of a private yacht which is hijacked by Somali pirates. But at heart he ‘remains a child of Africa’.
‘Africa is in my blood,’ says the author of 33 best-selling novels, which have captured the imagination of millions of readers across the globe. He spoke to IANS in a telephonic interview from London where he now lives.
Smith, 78, has used a stretch of the Indian Ocean between Africa and India as the backdrop of the new book, ‘Those in Peril’. It is also inspired by a slice of personal history.
‘I once had a country home at Cap Colibri in Cerf Island near Seychelles, on the Indian Ocean between India and Africa. I owned it for 20 years and spent a lot of time on the island, in a fishing boat. When I went out in the fishing boat, I saw pirates,’ Smith said.
The writer, ‘a keen angler and a hunter’, said he saw pirates heading towards the island of Mahe, not very far from Seychelles.
‘I did not exactly shake hands with them, I saw them passing us. They did not attack me because I was not going to their island,’ said Smith.
‘The pirates come from Somalia in Africa to almost as far as India to capture ships. They attack vessels, take them back to Somalia and hold them to ransom. The insurance companies have to buy them back from the pirates. Piracy on the Indian Ocean is rampant – it is very, very big bad mafia,’ Smith said.
Smith has to his credit the ‘Ballantyne’ and ‘Courtney’ series of novels. ‘Those in Peril’ was published in the country early this month.
The novel, a departure from Smith’s usual historical sagas of Africa, travels between an oil field in the Middle East to Africa and the Indian Ocean.
Hazel Bannock is the owner of the Bannock Oil Corporation, one of the major global oil producers. While cruising on the Indian Ocean with her 19-year-old daughter Cayla, her yacht is hijacked by Somali pirates, who demand a crippling ransom. A complicated political and diplomatic set of protocols prevent the major global powers from intervening.
Hazel then calls on Hector Cross, a former operative of the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) contracted to the oil company to provide security, to lead the rescue mission.
‘I had spoken to the geologists, engineers and executives on oil fields for the book. I chose oil because without oil, societies would break down. It is one of the most important products – the world runs on oil,’ he said.
Africa pitched him to fame in 1964 with his first novel, ‘When The Lion Feeds’. In it, the character Sean Courtney was named after Smith’s grandfather, Courtney James Smith.
‘Courtney sold a lot of my books; he is a man from my imagination. He was a strong man and a kind man and had the elements that I admire. He was my archetypal hero. Courtney was not a coloniser. The British East India Company in India was a coloniser,’ Smith said.
Smith’s books span more than 500 years of African history. Seven of his novels have been adapted into movies.
‘I was born in Zambia in central Africa (Jan 9, 1933) and my family is in Africa. I left Africa for the first time when I was 30 to go to England. My ancestors were British and my grandfather came to Africa some time between 1890 and 1895,’ Smith said.
Smith’s insights into the lifestyles of the African tribes come from close proximity to tribals.
‘I have lived in a ranch and in a farm with tribal people. Except me and my family, the rest were all African tribals. I have been very close to them,’ Smith said.
Comparing the situation in Africa to that in India, Smith said: ‘Like the way India now belongs to Indians and is governed by Indians, Africa is for Africans, and governed by Africans.’
Smith will take a two-year break before he begins his new book. ‘I hope to come to the Jaipur Literature festival next year,’ he said.
(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)
