You may remember the constant, daily reporting of the Vietnam War. The role of the war correspondent is intriguing and was especially so then, before the military realised that unconstrained 'witnesses' were unhelpful, and developed the practice of 'embedding.' In any event, a correspondent is not a soldier - he or she simply records what they see, or interprets events and offers an opinion also. The cardinal rule though, is not to get involved. What happens when this cardinal rule is broken?
This is the story of ‘The Lavender Man.’
In a Nutshell
In 1990 at the height of the Trujillo massacres, war correspondent Sebastian Smith fled Colombia with an unbearable secret – he is no longer the ‘silent witness.’
A recluse in Phnom Penh, he is ‘adopted’ by Sokun, a young and resourceful survivor of the Khmer Rouge. Through Sokun, Smith becomes reluctant party to the illicit trading of artefacts and when Sokun ruthlessly disposes of the feared Punleu, Smith finds that an ammunition dump has been added to his unwanted business interests.
Smith lives with Secuntia. The sole survivor of her family from the Killing Fields, Secuntia is devoted to Smith but he returns only careless affection. Sokun though, is tormented by his own frustrated desire for her and gradually, his peculiar loyalty to Smith becomes increasingly distorted.
In the course of their business, Smith encounters Danielle Casati, the beautiful wife of an art collector and businessman, and a relationship rapidly develops in which Smith beguiles with a vision of lavender farming in Provence that suddenly seems much more than possible. But he also feels that he must be unburdened of the Trujillo secret that torments him – she is horrified and flees.
Despairing and angry, Smith is readily persuaded into an expedition into the jungles of Cambodia’s Ratanakiri by the German, Winkler. Their helicopter crashes and Smith’s life is saved by a family of hill people, called Kreung. Smith becomes very close to these people such that each regards the other as family.
Eventually and on Smith’s part with the greatest reluctance, he is returned to Phnom Penh by missionaries. His subsequent efforts to help the Kreung, whose existence is threatened by Vietnamese loggers, result only in his expulsion from Cambodia by vengeful and corrupt officials. He does not take Secuntia and she is stricken, but for Sokun it is time at last to take her to the house he has built especially for her. Emotionally blinded by his brutal childhood he is incapable of seeing her dislike and in his rage at her rejection, he kills her.
Smith meanwhile, finds land in Provence and sets about becoming a lavender farmer. He then decides to find Danielle, but though deeply disturbed by Smith’s reappearance she still believes him to be guilty of murder, and so she sends him away.
An astute observer of human nature, Danielle’s friend, Father Fabrini is unconvinced and through a colleague in London, learns of the terrible events in Trujillo and that all is not as it seems. Now understanding Smith’s mysterious behaviour, Danielle sets out to meet with him again but when she arrives at his lavender farm in the mountains near Digne, he is gone.
Smith has received a letter from his former business associate, police lieutenant So Phat urging him to come to Secuntia’s aid. Unaware that So Phat has long since departed Cambodia, instead, Smith finds he has been lured to a ferocious confrontation with a Sokun consumed by the need for revenge.
Let us say no more…other than that whilst I admire Smith, and sometimes even like him, I might not have been bothered if he had met an untimely end...possibly.