Sebastian Faulks was born on 20th April 1953 in Donnington, Berks. He went to school at Elstree School, Reading and Wellington College, Berkshire before studying English at Emmanuel College Cambridge. He became a full-time writer in 1991 and worked as a journalist. Faulks married Veronica in 1989. They have two sons, William and Arthur, and one daughter, Holly. He was awarded the CBE in 2002.
Faulks’ French trilogy, The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray (1989-1997), established him in the front rank of British novelists. Faulks was selected by the estate of the late 007-author, Ian Flemming, to write the follow-up Bond novels. Faulks’ name was not revealed to the public until July 2007, when a publishing date for the work was officially announced, along with its title.
Birdsong: This novel tells of a man called Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life, both before and during World War I. The novel came 13th in a 2003 BBC survey called the ‘Big Read’ which aimed to find Britain’s favourite book. It has also been adapted three times under the same title for radio, the stage and television.
A Week in December was published in 2009 and is set in London. The book begins with an elaborate seating plan at a dinner party. The reader is introduced to John Veals, a hedge fund trader who is arguably the most important character. He is a ruthless businessman, whose immense fortune seems to have become meaningless. He is more interested in the chase, the challenge of acquiring more and more capital. As he embarks on one of the riskiest deals of his life, his family is about to be torn apart. But does he even care?
Devil May Care was awarded the 2009 British Book Award for Popular Fiction. The book is set in the 1960s, beginning with a ritual execution in the outskirts of Paris which starts a chain of events designed to lead to global catastrophe. A narcotics tide threatens to lethally engulf Britain, a British airliner disappears in Iraqi airspace, and the thunder of war echoes throughout the Middle East. Bond is requested by ‘M’ to investigate a man named Gorner and his bodyguard, Chagrin. Bond is warned that his performance will be monitored and that a new agent is waiting in the wings, if his actions go awry. This book is the first novel to focus on the adult James Bond, as conceived by Fleming, since 2002.