Talk on novels about Sonia Gandhi, Kapurthala raja.

LAHORE -- A fascinating conversation with celebrated Spanish author Javier Moro was held at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, on Saturday.

It was organised by the Lahore Arts Council, in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain. Spanish Ambassador Jose Antonio de Ory also graced the occasion.

LAC Board of Governors member Razi Ahmed, also the founder of the Lahore Literary Festival, introduced Javier Moro as an internationally acclaimed author. Moro travelled to India in the late 1960s when he was 14-year-old and he was charmed by the country as well as the region, Razi said.

'Moro has extensively written on the region (subcontinent) in a style called dramatised history, recreating the life of historical characters.'

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Razi Ahmed termed Moro a writer and a journalist of great calibre with the bestselling novels to his credit.

In conversation with Moro, the honorary consul general of Spain in Lahore, Jalal Sallahuddin, asked many interesting questions, including those about the thought process, his inspiration to recreate historical characters, difference in fiction and history, especially in reference to his two bestselling novels, Passion India and The Red Sari.

Mr Moro said he had a close association with the subcontinent.

Discussing Passion India, which brought international recognition for Moro after its publication in 2005, the novelist said the book was a story of love and betrayal between Spanish singer Anita Delgado and Maharaja of Kapurthala Jagatjit Singh set in 1906. The novel registered sale of 1.3m copies, followed by translation in 20 languages.

Mr Moro...