Once Upon a Tender Time, a poignant tale of childhood, is the concluding part of Carl Muller's Burgher trilogy. The Burghers of Sri Lanka, hardy and fun-loving, produce children by the dozen-but often forget them. Carloboy Prins von Bloss and his companions are usually considered a pain in the neck by the adults they encounter as they go about the serious business of discovering the world and, primarily, the facts of life. Romps in the backyard, trysts in deserted houses and long bicycle rides to discover true love are commonplace. Also frequent are thrashings and canings as adults try to do.

Winner of the Gratiean Memorial Prize for the best work in English Literature by a Sri Lankan for 1993 Hilarious, affectionate, candid and moving, this is the story of the Burghers of Sri Lanka... Who are the Burghers? Descended from the Dutch, the Portuguese, the British and other foreigners who arrived in the island-nation of Sri Lanka (and 'mingled' with the local inhabitants), the Burghers often stand out because of their curiously mixed features—grey eyes in an otherwise Dravid face, for instance.... A handsome and guileless people, the Burghers have always lived it up, forever willing to 'put a party'. Carl Muller, a Burgher himself, writes in this quasi-fictional, engaging biography of the lives of his people; they emerge, at the end of his story, as a race of fun-loving, hardy people, much like the jam fruit tree which simply refuses to be contained or destroyed.

See here, first take a little polish on the finger and rub into the leather. Then spit. and rub.' - boasts one recruit of his boot polishing skills. sadly, the only reward this gets him is thirty pairs of shoes to shine. This is only one of the hilarious episodes in Carl Muller's continuation of the von Bloss family saga. Carloboy von Bloss is back, now a robust young man of eighteen, spending four eventful years in the one-ship Royal Ceylon Navy. Carloboy and his fellow recruits get up to the weirdest capers: painting their boots black; posing as Italian ghosts; planning to wink at.