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Features

Authors celebrate their local bookshops

With the dawn of a new millennium about to break, the Nineties was a strange, floating decade of positivity, hope and something called the World Wide Web. 

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Reading lists

Books that defined the 1990s

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Extracts

Be the first to read the opening chapter of Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks

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Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks

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An interview with Sebastian Faulks

Where My Heart Used to Beat

&lsquo;A masterpiece&rsquo; SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 
&lsquo;Ambitious, demanding and profoundly melancholy&rsquo; GUARDIAN 
 
Dr. Robert Hendricks has just received a mysterious invitation. Psychiatrist Alexander Pereira has asked him to stay at his villa on a French island. But what starts out as an intellectual exchange soon becomes a cat and mouse game that brings to the surface a history of war and a lost love that Hendricks had thought buried. 
 
A gripping exploration of the mysteries of memory, Where My Heart Used to Beat is a stunning and thrilling novel of past lives and the indelible scars of love. 
 
&lsquo;An intelligent and moving examination of the traumas of war&rsquo; SCOTSMAN 
&lsquo;Will leave you gulping back sobs&rsquo; OBSERVER

Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong, part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces, the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist on national papers. He has also written screenplays and has appeared in small roles on stage. He lives in London.

The Sunday Times Bestseller from the author of Birdsong

Paris Echo

'Superb' OBSERVER 
'Cunningly crafted' FINANCIAL TIMES 
'Faulks is doing what he does best&rsquo; SUNDAY TIMES 
 
In the depths of the archive, Hannah dances with the ghosts of Vichy France, lost in testimony and a desire to hear the voices of the past. Back in her apartment, Moroccan teenager Tariq crashes on her sofa, consumed by his search for the mother he barely knew. Their excavations will unearth rich histories that will teach them both just how much the future is worth fighting for. 
 
Paris Echo is a propulsive and haunting novel of empire and identity, told with biting wit and tenderness, which exposes the shadows of the city of lights. 
 
&lsquo;[Paris Echo] is brimming with Faulks&rsquo;s deep affection for Paris . . . and ambition to evoke that place, its ghostliness, those spectres of history, lurking around every beautiful avenue&rsquo; GUARDIAN

Superb... weaves winningly between the present and the second world war, between Tangiers and Paris.

‘[Paris Echo is] brimming with Faulks’s deep affection for Paris. His outsider’s interest in quirky street names and quaint corners transports his readers there too. And in the end, the book is powered by his ambition to evoke that place, its ghostliness, those spectres of history, lurking around every beautiful avenue

A brilliantly plotted and occasionally hallucinatory novel, in  which the author's genius for literary ventriloquism is shown off to startling effect.

Paris Echo doesn’t disappoint… Faulks is doing what he does best, marrying careful historical research with a good ear for dialogue

[An] exquisite book... a deeply affecting, wholly unsolemn treatment of some of the 20th century's darkest moments.

The prowess of his storytelling makes him a graceful guide through "the great world of the past"... Cunningly crafted, Faulks's fictional bridge between the French past and present has its sentimental side.

There is humour and humanity in this bold, perceptive novel.

Both thoughtful and thought-provoking with memorable characters and a profound sense of the past in the present

Here is Paris in all its beauty and squalor, its blood-stained history and its ability to instil in its lover a sense of the true sweetness of life. So this intelligent, moving, often disturbing novel is also really a love letter to Paris and indeed to France.

There is much to learn from Paris Echo about the city’s complex identity, and about the way we view the past.

Paris Echo tackles its subjects – war, identity, colonial legacies – with the skill and emotional power that have delighted his readers for three decades

Faulks is a fine descriptive writer and evokes Paris splendidly

Paris Echo is an enjoyable and highly readable novel. Faulks has an easy-going style and he draws you seemingly without effort into the world he creates. He has a knowing humour too…In part the novel is a love letter to Paris, but it is also the latest product of Faulk’s long-standing and fascinating engagement with the devastating events of the 20th century.

This intelligent, moving, often disturbing novel is also really a love letter to Paris – and, indeed, to France

Faulks excels at creating well-rounded characters.

An intriguing guide to the many layers of Parisien life.

Master storytelling... [An] intriguing and moving story that shows how the future is shaped by the past.

‘Paris Echo is an enjoyable and highly readable novel. Faulks has an easy-going style and he draws you seemingly without effort into the world he creates. He has a knowing humour too…In part the novel is a love letter to Paris, but it is also the latest product of Faulk’s long-standing and fascinating engagement with the devastating events of the 20th century.’

A lovely novel by a writer who lives and breathes France

Faulks masterfully reminds readers of the city’s indecipherable mystique and bottomless artistic generosity

Another terrific, intelligent read from Faulks

Three Short Lives

The Fatal Englishman

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Compelling and stunningly written' THE TIMES 
'Wildly exciting . . . a classic' SPECTATOR 
'Flawless . . . poetic . . . superbly portrayed' DAILY TELEGRAPH 
 
Three men. Three short, glittering lives. 
 
Young English painter Christopher Wood arrives in Paris in 1921 set on becoming the next great master. By day he studies; by night he attends parties with Picasso and Cocteau before paying too high a price for success. Richard Hilary, a confident if unprincipled Spitfire pilot, is suffering from terrible burns after being shot down. But the operations to restore him haven't deterred him from returning to action. And Jeremy Wolfenden, the cleverest of his set at All Souls College, leaves it all behind to report on the Cold War. But his louche private life makes him a plaything for the intelligent services, taking him on a fateful journey between East and West. 
 
The Fatal Englishman is a stunning tale of three short lives that burned brightly from a master storyteller.

From the Between the Covers TV Book Club

The Seventh Son

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'A genuinely thought-provoking piece of fiction' THE TIMES 
'Extraordinary' WILLIAM BOYD 
'Profoundly moving . . . a wonderful and life-affirming love story' JAMES HOLLAND 
'His greatest novel yet' ANTONY BEEVOR 
'Original and enthralling' PETER JAMES 
&lsquo;A beautifully written novel. On the one hand you have love, kindness, responsibility; on the other monstrous arrogance and indifference to consequences&rsquo; SCOTSMAN 
 
 
A CHILD WILL BE BORN WHO WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING 
 
When a young American academic Talissa Adam offers to carry another woman's child, she has no idea of the life-changing consequences. 
 
Behind the doors of the Parn Institute, a billionaire entrepreneur plans to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before. Through a series of IVF treatments, which they hope to keep secret, they propose an experiment that will upend the human race as we know it. 
 
Seth, the baby, is delivered to hopeful parents Mary and Alaric, but when his differences start to mark him out from his peers, he begins to attract unwanted attention. 
 
The Seventh Son is a spectacular examination of what it is to be human. It asks the question: just because you can do something, does it mean you should? Sweeping between New York, London, and the Scottish Highlands, this is an extraordinary novel about unrequited love and unearned power.

This is a genuinely thought-provoking piece of fiction. You could devour it in a day and be wholly transported into the near future, then set it back down, dazed but enlightened, in the present day where you will see the world anew in all its wonders and frailties

A stunning novel: profoundly moving, deeply unsettling, thought-provoking and prescient but also a wonderful and life-affirming love story too

Once I had started I literally could not stop. It really is his greatest novel yet, and of course beautifully written in that wonderful, understated style

Faulks is one of the most original and compelling writers in the world. This enthralling novel is right up there among his very finest work

A completely fascinating and extraordinary novel. A profound and moving examination of our complex human nature

A beautifully written novel. On the one hand you have love, kindness, responsibility; on the other monstrous arrogance and indifference to consequences

Brilliant, original and unputdownable. An absolute cracker

This elegant near-future novel about a daring scientific experiment explores the evolution of consciousness&hellip; Faulks is an enviably graceful and economical writer. The early chapters of the book rip along with clarity and elegance. He conjures up the various worlds, brings the central characters vividly to life and keeps the story moving intriguingly forward

A high-concept page-turner&hellip; Pitched somewhere between Michael Crichton and Ian McEwan, it&rsquo;s a timely meditation on the whims of rich tycoon

Engaging and thought-provoking &hellip; The Seventh Son straddles two worlds, encompassing the distant past as well as the future. In so doing, Faulks asks difficult questions about who and what we are, and whether we could ever justifiably alter our genes to remove the worst of our defects

Fabulously compelling&hellip; a provocative, poignant and disturbing examination of what it is to be human&hellip; Who says a novel of ideas can&rsquo;t be as thrilling as a holiday beach read? The Birdsong author&rsquo;s novels invariably examine big, bold ideas yet are beautifully told with a gossamer light touch. The Seventh Son is no exception

A resonant hint of Frankenstein&rsquo;s wretched monster about Seth who, functional, capable and literate as he is, stands at the book&rsquo;s emotional centre, desperate for a companionship he can never find

Cutting-edge science and big, meaty ideas aside, it’s the minute details of everyday life and the bursting-from-the-page characters that make this thought-provoking novel come alive

Sebastian Faulks has long been a novelist much occupied with ideas, especially scientific and medical ones, while contriving to marry this to a strong plot and credible characters . . . gripping, horribly persuasive and sad

A CHILD WILL BE BORN WHO WILL CHANGE EVRYTHING 
 
When a young American academic Talissa Adam offers to carry another woman's child, she has no idea of the life-changing consequences. 
 
Behind the doors of the Parn Institute, a billionaire entrepreneur plans to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before. Through a series of IVF treatments, which they hope to keep secret, they propose an experiment that will upend the human race as we know it. 
 
Seth, the baby, is delivered to hopeful parents Mary and Alaric, but when his differences start to mark him out from his peers, he begins to attract unwanted attention. 
 
The Seventh Son is a spectacular examination of what it is to be human. It asks the question: just because you can do something, does it mean you should? Sweeping between New York, London, and the Scottish Highlands, this is an extraordinary novel about unrequited love and unearned power.

On Green Dolphin Street

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Compelling . . . Faulks has become an international sensation' GUARDIAN 
'Performs like an elegant melody' OBSERVER 
'Tense and affecting . . . A modern epic' SPECTATOR 
 
Life at the British Embassy in Washington in 1959 is awash with parties, martinis, jazz, and for Mary van der Linden, the kind of happiness she has always dreamt of. With her diplomat husband Charlie busy and the children off at boarding school, she feels listless until news reporter Frank Renzo enters their lives. And when Frank and Mary begin a torrid affair, their passion will force an impossible decision. 
 
Set between Washington, New York and Moscow, On Green Dolphin Street, is a masterful exploration of Cold War chaos, and devastating love.

Engleby

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Vivid . . . engagingly lucid and disarmingly funny' GUARDIAN 
'Beautifully done . . . witty and poignant' THE TIMES 
'Brilliant' OBSERVER 
 
Welcome to Mike Engleby's world. Deep in the hallowed halls of an esteemed English university, Mike is one of the only working-class boys, amongst the privileged masses. He's also different, starkly so, but able to observe it all. But observation soon tips into obsession when his fixation, fellow student Jennifer, goes missing. What has Mike Engleby overlooked? 
 
A cult classic and an exemplar of the campus novel, Engleby is a beguiling portrait of an outsider, told in an unforgettable voice. 
 
'Remarkable . . . intensely exhilarating' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 
'A tour-de-force . . . a great novel' DAILY MAIL 
'Compelling, disturbing and significant' SCOTSMAN

[A] book that made me realise there are fewer boundaries in fiction than I'd believed

Sebastian Faulks

'Profound . . . Faulks evokes a deep compassion' OBSERVER 
'Does what a good novel should - it unsettles, it moves, and it forces us to question who we are' SUNDAY TIMES 
'A delight . . . moving and exciting' DAILY TELEGRAPH 
 
Five lives overlap across two centuries. School teacher Geoffrey&rsquo;s war takes him to the brink of sanity; Billy&rsquo;s fortitude lifts him from the Victorian slums in London; Elena and Jeanne interrogate the notion of the soul, from opposite points of view, a century apart. And for Anya, a young American singer-songwriter, only her producer Jack can understand the depths of their bond as art and life collide. 
 
In a symphony of fiction, A Possible Life defies the boundaries of the novel, to explore the deepest questions of how we are connected to one another. 
 
 
'A Possible Life is more than the sum of its parts . . . the stories acquire power as resonances between them accrete. Only at the end do you realise you've been won over by their quiet, glinting virtuosity' THE TIMES

Sebastian Faulks

A Possible Life

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