Haven My LOUIS DE BERNIERES

The Captain Corelli’s Mandolin author, 62, in the sitting room of his Georgian rectory in Norfolk

1 YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED I’ve lived here in my haven in Norfolk since the Millennium and I love it – Norfolk’s the kind of place where people call in for tea. My children Robin, 12, and Sophie, nine, divide their time between staying with my ex and here with me, and having them here regularly is absolutely wonderful. These portraits of them were done two or three years ago by a brilliant Canadian artist called Phyllis Dupuy. I used to love painting myself but I still paint like a 12-year-old – I’m setting art aside for the next incarnation. 2 IN THE CLUB I play a lot of golf but I use hickory shafted clubs, not fibreglass or metal. I loved playing with my grandfather’s wooden clubs and I never played better than I did with them, so I gave up on the modern stuff. They only changed from wood to fibreglass because wood’s more expensive. The clubs have a lovely sweep and feel and this one is an American Spalding – it’s just about as good as they get. 3 CAT MAN I love cats – and dogs too. My daughter recently put ‘dog’ on the shopping list. She wants a golden retriever and

I’m on the case. I have two cats at the moment, Basil here and Kemal. Basil’s an interesting cat because he’s half-Siamese and he talks at the top of his voice all the time. On the floor you’ll see a cat doorstop that I found in a junk shop when I had a cat called Porthos. I made Porthos sit on the table and painted his markings on to the doorstop. A perfect likeness. 4 CAPTAIN LOUIS’S MANDOLINS I bought this mandolin when I was about 30 in Portugal and it’s been my favourite mandolin ever since. I have dozens of them. Music’s always been a big part of my life. I was given a ukulele when I was six and that started me off. I was on the road a lot when I was younger playing classical and traditional music. I play my instruments all the time and I’m actually getting going again as a singer-songwriter. I’ve got Grade 6 on the flute too – my greatest achievement probably. 5 FUN IN THE COLOMBIAN SUN I picked up this machete in Colombia when I was 19 and working on a ranch. It’s the kind you use on horseback to cut your way through the jungle. I was in Colombia for a year and it completely changed my life. Even though they had nothing those Colombians really knew how to enjoy themselves, they were very much into appetites of all kinds, let’s say, and they were very frank about it. The sun shone and the men dressed in yellow shirts, purple trousers and red hats. It was also a stupendously violent society, though I didn’t see any of that. 6 POOTLING AROUND Just after I moved here I noticed a garage with some dilapidated vintage cars behind it. This Ford Popular was the least damaged so I bought it with my Greek royalties from Captain Corelli. I spent a summer rebuilding it – I did the mechanical work and someone else did the paintwork. I use it to take the children to school and for pootling around. It only does 40mph.

As told to Yvonne Swann. Louis’s latest novel The Dust That Falls From Dreams (Vintage, £7.99) is out now.