Daniel Martin - John Fowles

Set internationally and spanning three decades, Daniel Martin is, among other things, an exploration of what it is to be English. Daniel is a screenwriter working in Hollywood, who finds himself dissatisfied with his career and with the person he has become. In a richly evoked narrative, Daniel travels home to reconcile with a dying friend, and also to visit his own forgotten past in an attempt to discover himself.

John Fowles was born in 1926. He won international recognition with The Collector, his first published title, in 1963. He was immediately acclaimed as an outstandingly innovative writer of exceptional imaginative power, and this reputation was confirmed with the appearance of his subsequent works: The Aristos, The Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Ebony Tower, Daniel Martin, Mantissa, and A Maggot. John Fowles died in Lyme Regis in 2005. Two volumes of his Journals have recently been published; the first in 2003, the second in 2006.

A work of imaginative energy and passionate honesty
The Times

An instant masterpiece-It is a tour de force of stamina and subtlety
Daily Telegraph

A descriptive writer of great power
Independent

I find it disastrous to read any of John Fowles' books - once I pick one up, I cannot put it down so everything else gets ignored!
Daily Express - Judi Dench