“What are you talking about?” asked Phera.
“About the demons living not just around us but within us,” said Henry, kissing her.
Then he raised his bowl of coconut water to Mahinda. “My friend, just promise you won’t leave until you’ve married us!”
Authors’ Note
The kingdom of Kanda Uda Pas Rata, named Kandy by the British, was in the heart of Sri Lanka. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the Portuguese and Dutch took possession of first the coastline and then the rest of the kingdom. They did not, however, manage to conquer Kandy’s high mountains and impenetrable jungle, nor did the kings of Kandy manage to drive out the colonial powers. However, because cinnamon, precious stones, and elephants were among the most sought-after export items in the country, a variety of trade agreements resulted.
The British were the colonial rulers of Sri Lanka from 1796, but they failed more than once in their attempts to march into Kandy.
In 1817 the native population, particularly the people of Uva, rebelled against their new rulers. It was a year before the rebellion was subdued and only through extreme brutality, with crops ruined, rice fields destroyed, cattle slaughtered, and villages burned to the ground. All men over the age of eighteen were hunted down and murdered. Many British officers displayed merciless cruelty. Lieutenant John Maclaine, of the Seventy-Third Infantry Regiment, was known to delight in watching the executions of Sinhalese prisoners while he breakfasted.
As early as 1802, Sri Lanka was made a Crown colony and named Ceylon by the British. After they had subdued the Uva Rebellion, the new rulers wanted tighter control over the island and began its development. Virgin forest was cleared to make way first for coffee plantations, then later for tea. Bridges and modern roads were constructed. In 1864 the first railroad in the land came into service, running from Kandy to Colombo.
The road described in our book is today the A1. Its construction started in 1820 under the leadership of Captain William Frances Dawson. When Dawson died of exhaustion in 1829, the road was still not ready.
Anyone reading our description of Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth, and who has also been there in person, may be surprised how much today’s temple differs from our depiction. This is because the temple was altered and extended in the early nineteenth century. After fire damage, only the lower section of the royal palace remains, while of the elephant stables there is nothing. We took as a model the architecture and scale of other stable blocks, such as those of Vijayanagar in South India.
In several places, we have changed historical facts for the benefit of our story. Uva Ravine and the associated ambush is our invention. Sylvester Wilson was one of the British present, and the Sacred Tooth of Buddha was taken to the highland fortress of Hanguranketha, not to Badulla.
For the kingdom of Kandy, we use its original name of Kanda Uda Pas Rata while it remains under Sinhalese rule. The same applies to the city of Kandy, known to the Sinhalese as Senkadagala.
Acknowledgments
We thank all those who have offered their specialist advice, constructive criticism, and helpful comments during the writing of this book and after.
In particular, we would like to thank the whole AmazonCrossing team, especially Lauren Edwards for being our excellent editor; Deborah Langton, who produced a wonderful translation; and P. G. Norman Edwin, our friendly and humorous guide to Sri Lanka, who also happens to be the first local guide to this wonderful country taken on by a German travel company.
If you have enjoyed our novel, do tell your friends. We would love to have your feedback through social media like Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads.
About the Authors
Photo © 2016 Mirella Drosten
Julia and Horst Drosten write historical novels together under the pseudonym Julia Drosten. In their spare time, Julia loves to do yoga, and Horst runs regularly. Horst is also a very skilled cook, and Julia loves to eat the meals he creates. The authors have written many other works of historical fiction in German, and they greatly enjoy conducting research for their novels—diving into history and making the past come alive. They count flying in a historic biplane, watching the workers in a butcher’s shop, exploring Egypt, and being pampered by a beautician among their research pursuits. The authors of The Lioness of Morocco, an Amazon bestseller in Germany and the United States, Julia and Horst live in the idyllic Münsterland in Germany. The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter, originally published in German under the title Die Elefantenhüterin, is their second novel translated into English.
About the Translator
Photo © 2017 Stella Scordellis
Deborah Langton was born in Reading, England, studied German and French literature at Cambridge, and has worked in Munich, Berlin, Milan, Abu Dhabi, London, and Manchester. After a rewarding first career teaching and lecturing, she moved into translation while still working at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians University and loves translating fiction best of all. Deborah now lives in a rural location not far from London and translates in her study with views toward England’s South Downs. She shares her life with her husband, Chris, her best critic, and their two fine sons, Joseph and Samuel.
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