Book description
The publication of Robinson Crusoe in London in 1719 marked
the arrival of a revolutionary art form: the novel. British writers
were prominent in shaping the new type of storytelling - one which
reflected the experiences of ordinary people, with characters in whom
readers could find not only an escape, but a deeper understanding of
their own lives.
But the novel was more than just a reflection of British life. As
Sebastian Faulks explains in this engaging literary and social
history, it also helped invent the British. By focusing not on writers
but on the people they gave us, Faulks not only celebrates the
recently neglected act of novelistic creation but shows how the most
enduring fictional characters over the centuries have helped map the
British psyche - through heroes from Tom Jones to Sherlock Holmes,
lovers from Mr Darcy to Lady Chatterley, villains from Fagin to
Barbara Covett and snobs from Emma Woodhouse to James Bond.
Also included in this fantastic ebook package are four free
classic novels:
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: The legendary story of a
marine adventurer shipwrecked on a desert island.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Accomplished Elizabeth
Bennett must navigate a web of familial obligations and social
expectations in this witty drama of friendship, rivalry, enmity and
love.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Pip's life as an
ordinary country boy is destined to be unexceptional until a chain of
mysterious events lead him away from his humble origins and up the
social ladder.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: Marian and her sister
Laura live a quiet life under their uncle's guardianship until Laura
marries Sir Percival Glyde, a man of many secrets. Can she be
protected from a mysterious and potentially fatal plot?
Sebastian Faulks was born and brought up in Newbury, Berkshire. He
worked in journalism before starting to write books. He is best known
for the French trilogy,
The Girl at the Lion d'Or
,
Birdsong
and
Charlotte Gray
(1989-1997) and is also the author of a triple biography,
The Fatal Englishman
(1996); a small book of literary parodies,
Pistache
(2006); and the novel
Human Traces
(2005). His latest novel,
A Week in December
, was published in 2009. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Literature in 1993 and appointed CBE for services to literature in 2002.
He lives in London with his wife and their three children.
