Corelli author loses plot in summerhouse theft

LONDON (Reuters) - Louis de Bernieres, author of the best-selling novel "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", faces having to rewrite the first four chapters of his new novel because his computer was stolen from his summerhouse.


Thieves stole the laptop containing the first 50 pages of the author's new book "A Partisan's Daughter" after forcing open a window in a wooden summerhouse in the garden of his home in Norfolk, newspapers reported on Saturday.


"I mostly feel angry," de Bernieres was quoted as saying by The Independent. "I was about 50 pages through and it was going very well, I was on a roll."


De Bernieres said he first embarked on the novel, based on the life of a Yugoslav friend who claimed to be a prostitute, more than 20 years ago, but had not made a copy of his latest version.


The 49-year-old British writer said he was offering a 500 pound reward for the computer's return.


"Captain Corelli's Mandolin", set in the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian occupation of World War II, won the 1995 Commonwealth Writers Prize and sold 2.5 million copies worldwide.


Its 2001 big screen adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz, disappointed both the critics and the box office.