Short summary: Set in colonial Ceylon, amidst brewing political unrest, THE LUMINIST centers on a young man named Eligius who’s sent to work as a servant to the colonial governor's family. Despite their mutual suspicion, Eligius is taken in by the Colebrooks and becomes a trusted member of their household, particularly by Catherine, the wife and mother of the family's two girls, bonding over their mutual fascination with the burgeoning art of photography. As Eligius becomes her apprentice in the studio, the situation in his home village deteriorates and on visits home he is put in the impossible position of supporting his mother and the people he grew up with and violating the trust of the family who has become as close to him as his own. Ultimately belonging to neither world, he is forced to make a choice that will shape his destiny and those of the people he loves most.

Publisher’s summary: In the spirit of THE PIANO TUNER, THE LUMINIST is a beautifully written, page-turning novel about politics, war, art, and family that will linger in your memory long after you raced towards the last page. Catherine Colebrook, a central figure in the novel, is loosely based on the life of famed Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, who lived big chunks of her life in Ceylon and died with her husband there. Rather than focus on her story, Rocklin chooses to tell the story of Ceylon through the eyes of a young sage protagonist who comes to understand the weaknesses of both the oppressed and the oppressors.
Rocklin's next novel explores the consequences of the 1868 British attack against the Ethiopian empire and its king, Tewodros (known to the British as Theodore). After the suicide of the king, his son was taken along with numerous antiquities and much of the country's wealth, back to England, where he became a curiosity and a ward of Queen Victoria. He remained, for much of his short life (he died at 17), a boy lost between worlds. The book will tell his story.

David Rocklin is an attorney and a mediator.  He graduated from Indiana University with a BA in Literature. He lives in California with his wife and children. This is his first novel, which has been read by an Indian professor for authenticity. Rocklin's next book will center on the consequences of the 1868 British attack against the Ethiopian empire and its king, Tewodros (known to the British as Theodore). After the suicide of the king, his son was taken, along with numerous antiquities and much of the country's wealth, back to England, where he became a curiosity and a ward of Queen Victoria. He remained for much of his short life (he died at 17) a boy lost between worlds. The book will tell his story.

David Rocklin is an attorney who lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter, recently adopted from China.

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