Great turnout at the Avalon Hotel for launch of Kilkenny author’s latest work

Friends and family gathered at the Avalon House Hotel to celebrate the launch of local author Berna Boran’s latest novel, The Calligrapher’s Sons.

The thriller is based on the life of a Muslim family adapting to life in Dublin. Berna Boran was a teacher and principal in the Muslim national school at Clonskeagh for 25 years before her retirement.

A large crowd attended the launch on Saturday evening including the Imam of Kilkenny Ebrahim Ndure and well-known broadcaster, Sue Nunn, who launched the book.

“Like all thriller writers, I draw inspiration from life experiences from familiar places, from events that occur in life and from people,” said the author.

“When creating a character or developing a pot or a scene I draw from a bank pf people’s mannerisms, sayings and observations lodged in the back of my mind. What someone said or did in the past can take on a new life as I try to develop the plot.

“Thank you to all those people from whom I have drawn inspiration. Because they are so many, this book could not carry the list,” she added.

The thriller is set in a migrant family, living in Dublin. The story is a real page turner as the family deal with various issues, such as gambling addiction, racism, traditional expectations that may not suit their new environment and even brushes with international criminality.

The author has an in-depth knowledge of Islamic cultural life and this is reflected in the sensitive telling of the story while losing nothing of the humour and pathos depicted in this most entertaining thriller.

The Calligrapher’s Sons is dedicated to the author’s sons - Adam and Lorcán and there is also a special note of mention in the book for Chrissie Walsh and her late husband, Seamus, author of In the Shadow of the Mines and Coal in the Blood.

Berna Borna is a native of Kilkenny and now lives in Dublin. The author likens the generosity of the Muslim people with that of the Irish people.