See the hottest books publishing this Summer

Beyond the Book: Background information when reading Human Traces

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks

Human Traces

A Novel

by Sebastian Faulks
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 12, 2006, 576 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2006, 618 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Beyond the Book

This article relates to Human Traces

Print Review

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

  • A Trick of the Light (1984)
  • The Girl at the Lion d'Or (1989)
  • A Fool's Alphabet (1992)
  • Birdsong (1993)
  • The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives (nonfiction, 1996)
  • Charlotte Gray (1998)
  • The Vintage Book of War Stories (editor, with Jorg Hensgen, 1999)
  • On Green Dolphin Street (2001)
  • Human Traces (2005)
  • Pistache (a collection of parodies and pastiches, mostly from BBC Radio 4's The Write Stuff, (Oct 2006 in the UK)
  • Engleby (2007, in the UK).

Filed under

This article relates to Human Traces. It first ran in the October 5, 2006 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Ghostwriter
    by Julie Clark
    From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight and The Lies I Tell comes a dazzling new thriller.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Ordinary Love
    by Marie Rutkoski

    A riveting story of class, ambition, and bisexuality—one woman risks everything for a second chance at first love.

  • Book Jacket

    Making Friends Can Be Murder
    by Kathleen West

    Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones is drawn into a neighborhood murder mystery after befriending a deceptive con artist.

Who Said...

No pleasure is worth giving up for the sake of two more years in a geriatric home.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B a L

and be entered to win..

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.