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Charlotte Gray
by Sebastian Faulks

"A miraculous novel. . . . Faulks is a master indeed." --San Francisco Chronicle

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  • About the Book

    From the bestselling author of Birdsong comes Charlotte Gray, the remarkable story of a young Scottish woman who becomes caught up in the effort to liberate Occupied France from the Nazis while pursuing a perilous mission of her own.

    In blacked-out, wartime London, Charlotte Gray develops a dangerous passion for a battle-weary RAF pilot, and when he fails to return from a daring flight into France she is determined to find him. In the service of the Resistance, she travels to the village of Lavaurette, dyeing her hair and changing her name to conceal her identity. Here she will come face-to-face with the harrowing truth of what took place during Europe's darkest years, and will confront a terrifying secret that threatens to cast its shadow over the remainder of her days. Vividly rendered, tremendously moving, and with a narrative sweep and power reminiscent of his novel Birdsong, Charlotte Gray confirms Sebastian Faulks as one of the finest novelists working today.

    "Eloquent and moving. . . . A page turner for grown-ups, a novel with the rich detail of a great historical narrative." --The Baltimore Sun

    "There is no shortage of dramatic tension, excitement or persuasive detail [in Charlotte Gray]. . . . Mr. Faulks is a prodigiously talented writer." --The New York Times

    "This powerful novel...explodes into an immensely gripping tale." --The Wall Street Journal

    "What begins as a conventional love story becomes an adventure of the spirit . . . Charlotte Gray has depth and texture." --The Washington Post

    About the Author

    Sebastian Faulks was born in Newbury, England, in 1953, and educated at various schools and at Cambridge University, from which he graduated in 1974 with the intention of becoming a novelist. He took a job teaching in a school in London and began to write freelance articles, mostly book reviews, for various papers. In 1978 he left teaching to take a job as a reporter with the Daily Telegraph in London. By this time he was also running a book club, the New Fiction Society, and continued to write fiction.

    His first novel, A Trick of Light, was published in 1984. By this time he had become a feature writer on the Sunday Telegraph and in 1986 moved to the new national daily paper the Independent as its literary editor. His second novel, The Girl at the Lion d'Or, was published in 1989.

    In 1991 he gave up journalism to concentrate on writing. In 1992 his third novel, A Fool's Alphabet, was published in London, and in 1993 he published Birdsong to huge critical acclaim. In January 1997 a television and bookshop poll among British readers placed it in their top fifty books of the century. He was named Author of the Year in the British Book Awards of 1995.

    His nonfiction book, The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives, was published in 1996, Charlotte Gray two years later; both these books were also bestsellers.

    Sebastian Faulks has been married since 1989 and has three children. After a period in France, the Faulks family now lives in London.

    About the Film

    Now a major motion picture from Warner Bros./Film Four starring Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Gift), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), Michael Gambon (The Insider), and Rupert Penry-Jones, and directed by Gillian Armstrong (Oscar and Lucinda). Coming to theaters in January 2002.

     

     


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