Antoine Vanner – author of the Dawlish Chronicles
Antoine Vanner had been writing off and on for many years but as his business career took off he had to cut back. The impulse to get going again – seriously so – came just before retirement from full-time work when he attended a lecture and book-signing session by the late naval-novelist Douglas Reeman at a local bookshop. In a calm, dignified and erudite way Reeman conveyed not only vast knowledge and enthusiasm for his subject but the importance of a methodical approach to writing. He provided the inspiration for taking the task really seriously and since then Antoine has adopted the Latin motto “Nulla dies sine linea – not a day without a line”. So thank you Douglas Reeman! Antoine’s adventurous career in international business gave him the opportunity to live and work in eight countries as well as shorter assignments in a dozen more.
He is bilingual in English and Dutch, adequate in Spanish, abysmal in German and has smatterings in two other languages so rusty as to be not worth mentioning. He currently lives in Britain with his wife, Eva Lagasseé (a journalist by background), their dog and five horses.
Antoine’s fiction reflects deep knowledge of all political, military and social history of the 19th Century as well as of the “cutting edge technologies” of the period. His plots are linked to real events and real characters, often in settings in which he has direct personal experience. Moral ambiguity is a major theme in his work and his protagonist, Nicholas Dawlish R.N. and his indomitable wife Florence, are confronted by difficult ethical choices as they balance ambition and conscience.
Videos:
This short video was shot in 2014 when the first three novels had been published. The series contains twelve novels as of early 2025. In this interview by Eva Lagassé, Antoine discusses his fascination with the Victorian era and his approach to writing naval fiction. The issues involved continue to be relevant in prequels and sequels. Please click here to view it: Video 1
In a video-interview by Eva Lagassé, shot in December 2015, Antoine Vanner spoke about his new novel Britannia’s Spartan. Note that it has received a new cover since then! Click here view: Video 2
Britannia’s Amazon, the fifth book in the Dawlish Chronicles series, was the subject of a videoed interview from November 2016, at the time of publication. In it Antoine talks about the historical background to the story as well as the challenge for a male author writing from a female viewpoint, as he does in this novel (and later in Britannia’s Morass), in contrast to the other novels in the series. Click here to view it: Video 3
Britannia’s Mission, the seventh novel of the Dawlish Chronicles, and the major themes explored in it, are discussed by Antoine in a video made at the time of its publication in late November 2018. Click here to view it: Video 4
Thoughts on Writing:
In an interview with Antoine Vanner by Eva Lagassé on the occasion of the publication of the first Dawlish Chronicles novel, he explained his motivations. Twelve years and another eleven novels on, the points remain valid. Please click here: Interview by Eva La Gasse
To read about how Antoine approaches the challenge of “Getting into the Victorian Mind” in his writing please click here
Novelist Clare Flynn interviews Antoine in in 2017, when he’d just published his sixth novel, about his approach to writing: Please click here