Azra Hall greets Michael Ondaatje after having her copy of Divisadero signed by
the author.

Over 120 reading enthusiasts gathered to hear award winning novelist, Michael Ondaatje read from his latest book, Divisadero, at Books & Books in Camana Bay on Saturday, 10 May.

The author of The English Patient, that won the man Booker prize and was adapted into an Oscar winning film, captivated the appreciative audience with readings from Divisadero as well as excerpts from other work.

The lively question and answer session that followed the readings gave patrons an opportunity to get a better understanding of the writer, the way he viewed his characters and the creative process he went through when writing.

The author, who first wrote poetry, said he never imagined himself writing novels. He added that the poetry gives about 70 percent of information, allowing the reader to participate in the discovery of the subject. Applying this principle to prose, Mr Ondaatje said he leaves “spaces for readers to made connections”.

Contrary to what some may believe, the novelist did not find writing to be a lonely occupation. “I am chatting with my characters all day long,” he said of the creative process.

Mr Ondaatje elaborated on his experience of writing by explaining that in the process of researching characters he takes on the mask of the character. “I spend four to five years with characters in each book,” he said, adding that he feels he has lived intimately with them by the end of that period.

Jennifer Looney said she thought the event was “a lovely evening with a man of lovely words”.

Mayurie and Indika Perera felt the evening was informative and exciting. “It’s good to see how the writer lived in the character during the process of writing the book,” Mr Perera said.

Mr Ondaatje told Cayman Net News that his visit to Grand Cayman was “very brief, but wonderful”. When asked to say which of his books was his favourite he said: “ I feel closest to the last one.”

Divisadero is a remarkable, intimate novel of intersecting lives that ranges across continents and time. In the 1970s in Northern California a father and his teenage daughters, Anna and Claire, work their farm with the help of Coop, an enigmatic young man who makes his home with them.

Theirs is a makeshift family, until it is shattered by an incident of violence that sets fire to the rest of their lives. Divisadero takes us from San Francisco to the raucous backrooms of Nevada’s casinos and eventually to the landscape of southern France. As the narrative moves back and forth through time and place, we find each of the characters trying to find some foothold in a present shadowed by the past.