Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks CBEis a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray. He has also published novels with a contemporary setting, most recently A Week in December, and a James Bond continuation novel, Devil May Care, as well as a continuation of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells. He is a team captain on BBC Radio 4...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth20 April 1953
summer wind people
The end-of-summer winds make people restless.
night london steps
One thing about London is that when you step out into the night, it swallows you.
modesty thunder false-modesty
The thunder of false modesty was deafening.
simple fire brain
I have written millions of words about contemporary England - in journalism. Why don't I take it as the background for a novel? I may do one day. But the simple answer is that it does not excite the novelistic part of my brain; it does not fire it up.
suffering doe interest
That's what opium does to suffering: makes it of hypothetical interest only.
names worn recalls
You can't recall someone whose name has worn away.
people alive conscious
This is how most people live: alive, but not conscious; conscious but not aware; aware, but intermittently.
religious character facts
The nicest characters in A Week in December are, in fact, Muslims - and their religious devotion is one of the things that defines them.
memorable long meals
In the 1970s, British food was beginning to get good, whereas in France it was just starting its long, sad decline. My most memorable meals, however, have been in Italy.
derivatives commodity more-money
Life can be lived at a remove. You trade in futures, and then you trade in derivatives of futures. Banks make more money trading derivatives than they do trading actual commodities.
fool would-be hints
If I could eat only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be rhubarb fool, which I make with ginger and a hint of elderflower cordial.
enjoy cant ifs
If you have only one life, you cant altogether ignore the question: are you enjoying it?
running war book
There arent many great passages written about food, but I love one by George Millar, who worked for the SOE in the second world war and wrote a book called Horned Pigeon. He had been on the run and hadnt eaten for a week, and his description of the cheese fondue he smells in the peasant kitchen of a house in eastern France is unbelievable.
providence indifferent
It's better to have a malign providence than an indifferent one.