- British author Jeffrey Archer died Monday, before last book.
- His final novel, Adam & Eve, released globally on October 6.
- Archer sold 300 million books, topping bestseller charts globally.
Jeffrey Archer, whose novels used to be released in India ahead of other markets because of piracy, died on Monday at the age of 86. HarperCollins said in a statement that the British author passed away “suddenly and peacefully at home” but did not disclose the cause of his death. He leaves behind his wife of 60 years, Dame Mary Archer, their two sons and their families.
The timing of his death has drawn attention, since he died just a day before his last book, Adam and Eve, reached bookstores. He had also been vocal about how highly he rated it. “Adam and Eve is in my opinion the best book I have written, and at 86 I’m painfully aware I cannot hope to equal it,” he had told New York Times.
Jeffrey Archer’s Last Instagram Post
Archer’s final Instagram post went up on October 2 to promote his upcoming appearance for the novel. “On Saturday 10th October at 7pm I will be discussing my final novel Adam & Eve at the Cheltenham Festival. I look forward to seeing many of you there,” he wrote on Instagram.
What Is Adam And Eve About?
The novel follows two children born on the same day, November 11, 1918, the day the First World War ended. One is the daughter of an Earl, whose father had hoped for a son to inherit the title and the estate. The other is the son of a shepherd who worked on that same estate, and whose father had hoped for a daughter, convinced that a boy would eventually be sent off to war. According to the official synopsis, the story traces both characters from that first day through childhood, school and university, up to September 15, 1940, when their actions cause Adolf Hitler to change his mind.
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On his website, Archer said the title comes from the names of these two central characters, who share a birthday but come from opposite ends of English society. He left it there, suggesting readers would draw their own conclusions about the rest.
“The names of my two children, born on the same day at opposite ends of English life. I shall let you draw your own conclusions about the rest, since you will draw them anyway,” he wrote.
Asked whether the book is based on a true story, Archer said the history, the war and the pivotal date are all real. The two main characters, however, are his own creation, as is the idea that connects them to Hitler.”I have had a reader write to ask whether I found that somewhere. I did not. It is my invention, entirely,” his website says.
About Jeffrey Archer
A former Conservative member of Parliament, Archer sold over 300 million books across a writing career that lasted five decades. HarperCollins says the peer, who also sat in the House of Lords, is the only author to have topped the bestseller charts in fiction, short stories and non-fiction alike.
Several of his works have been adapted for the screen, the best known being the 1985 CBS miniseries Kane & Abel, in which Peter Strauss played Abel Rosnovski and Sam Neill played William Lowell Kane.
His first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, came out in 1976 and grew out of his own near-bankruptcy after poor investments. According to HarperCollins, it launched a career that sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and kept him on The New York Times bestseller list for over five years.
His political career, which included a stint as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, was cut short in 2001 when he was jailed after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against The Daily Star, as per Deadline.
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