Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the Book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
A Novel
by Sebastian FaulksThis article relates to Human Traces
Sebastian Faulks was born on 20 April 1953 and was educated in England at
Wellington College and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was the first literary
editor of The Independent (a leading British newspaper launched in 1986) and became deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday
before leaving in 1991 to concentrate on writing; he continues to contribute
articles and reviews to a number of newspapers and magazines.
He is well-known for his three novels set in wartime France: The Girl at the
Lion d'Or (1989), set between the First and Second World Wars, Birdsong
(1993), the story of a young Englishman and his
harrowing experiences fighting in northern France during the First World War;
and Charlotte Gray (1998), the adventures of a young Scottish woman
who becomes involved with the French resistance during the Second World War.
His more recent novels are On Green Dolphin Street (2001), a love story
set against the backdrop of the Cold War, and Human Traces (published in the
UK in 2005 and in the USA this month). His next novel is scheduled
for release in the UK in May 2007. Titled Engleby, it is about a man, devoid of
scruple or self-pity, rising through the ranks during the Thatcher years and
into the "blandscape of New Labour". The book jacket
blurb describes it as "a lament for a generation and the country it failed".
He lives with his wife and three children (aged about 15, 13 and 9) in a house
in Holland Park, London. When asked whether he consciously chose to write
a weightier novel following the relatively slim On Green Dolphin Street,
he replies "I didn't sit down and say to myself, 'Right, in the next
book you are going to write a really big, ambitious story with massively weighty
themes.' I'm glad that this has been that book, but you can't really choose. I
feel as if I'm the passive instrument of whatever is out there. Something comes
along and says, 'Write me.'"
Bibliography
This article relates to Human Traces. It first ran in the October 5, 2006 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access become a member today.I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking something up and finding something else ...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.