Fires Which Burned Brightly

"A wise and heartfelt piece of writing" — The Times

"Witty" — Independent

"Wry and reflective ... a soulful look at a life in words" — i Paper

"A wonderful portrait of an age, and of a writer" — Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge

"Utterly fascinating" — David Kynaston, author of A Northern Wind

"Shot through with the kind of depth and detail that can only come from a masterful writer finally turning his pen to his own life. Fresh, wise and finely-wrought" — Alice Winn, author of In Memoriam

"As charming and funny in schoolboy episodes as he is thought-provoking in the darker environs of mental health, Sebastian Faulks is always resonant, civilised and sane" — Mark Knopfler

In Fires Which Burned Brightly, Faulks, a reluctant memoirist, offers readers a series of detailed snapshots from a life in progress. They include a post-war rural childhood — "cold mutton and wet washing on a rack over the range" — the booze-sodden heyday of Fleet Street and a career as one of the country's most acclaimed novelists.

There are not one, but two daring escapes from boarding school; the delirium of a jetlagged American book tour; the writing of Birdsong in his brother's house in 1992; and memorable trips across the channel to France. Politics, psychiatry and frustrated ventures into the world of entertainment are analysed with patience and rueful humour.

The book is driven by a desire "to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." It ends with a tribute to Faulks's parents and a sense of how his own generation was shaped by the disruptive power of war and its aftermath.

Sharply perceptive and alive with a generous wit, Fires Which Burned Brightly is a work of subtle yet profound intelligence and warmth.

Praise for Sebastian Faulks

"Faulks writes with great emotional authority" — Sunday Times

"A prodigiously talented writer" — New York Times

"Faulks is beyond doubt a master" — Financial Times

"The most impressive novelist of his generation" — Sunday Telegraph