William Boyd Popular Books
William Boyd Biography & Facts
William Andrew Murray Boyd (born 7 March 1952) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Biography Boyd was born in Accra, Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), to Scottish parents, both from Fife, and has two younger sisters. His father Alexander, a doctor specialising in tropical medicine, and Boyd's mother, who was a teacher, moved to the Gold Coast in 1950 to run the health clinic at the University College of the Gold Coast, Legon (now the University of Ghana). In the early 1960s, the family moved to western Nigeria, where Boyd's father held a similar position at the University of Ibadan. Boyd spent his early life in Ghana and Nigeria and, at the age of nine, went to a preparatory school and then to Gordonstoun school in Scotland, and, after that, to the University of Nice in France, followed by the University of Glasgow, where he gained an M.A. (Hons) in English & Philosophy, and finally Jesus College, Oxford. His father died of a rare disease when Boyd was 26. Between 1980 and 1983, Boyd was a lecturer in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and it was while he was there that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published. He was also a television critic for the New Statesman between 1981 and 1983. Boyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to literature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary Doctorates in Literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow, and Dundee and is an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. Boyd is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club. Boyd met his wife Susan, a former editor and now a screenwriter, while they were both at Glasgow University. He has a house in Chelsea, London, and a farmhouse and vineyard (with its own appellation Château Pecachard) in Bergerac in the Dordogne in south-west France. In August 2014,Boyd was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. Work Novels Boyd was selected in 1983 as one of the 20 "Best of Young British Novelists" in a promotion run by Granta magazine and the Book Marketing Council. Boyd's novels include: A Good Man in Africa, a study of a disaster-prone British diplomat operating in West Africa, for which he won the Whitbread Book award and Somerset Maugham Award in 1981; An Ice-Cream War, set against the background of the World War I campaigns in colonial East Africa, which won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1982; Brazzaville Beach, published in 1991, which follows a scientist researching chimpanzee behaviour in Africa; and Any Human Heart, written in the form of the journals of a fictitious male 20th-century British writer, which won the Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne and was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002. Restless, the tale of a young woman who discovers that her mother had been recruited as a spy during World War II, was published in 2006 and won the Novel of the Year award in the 2006 Costa Book Awards. Boyd's novel Waiting for Sunrise was published in 2012. Following Solo in 2013, Sweet Caress was published in 2015, the fourth novel Boyd has written from a woman's viewpoint. His sixteenth novel, Trio, was published in 2020. Solo, the James Bond novel In April 2012, Ian Fleming's estate announced that Boyd would write the next James Bond novel. The book, Solo, is set in 1969; it was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in September 2013. Boyd used Bond creator Ian Fleming as a character in his novel Any Human Heart. Fleming recruits the book's protagonist, Logan Mountstuart, to British Naval Intelligence during World War Two. Short stories Several collections of short stories by Boyd have been published, including On the Yankee Station (1981), The Destiny of Nathalie 'X' (1995), Fascination (2004) and The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth (2017). In his introduction to The Dream Lover (2008), Boyd says that he believes the short story form to have been key to his evolution as a writer. Screenplays As a screenwriter,, Boyd has written several feature film and television productions. The feature films include: Scoop (1987), adapted from the Evelyn Waugh novel; Stars and Bars (1988), adapted from Boyd's own novel; Mister Johnson (1990), based on the 1939 novel by Joyce Cary; Tune in Tomorrow (1990), based on the Mario Vargas Llosa novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter; A Good Man in Africa (1994), also adapted from his own novel; The Trench (1999) an independent war film which he also directed; Man to Man (2005), a historical drama which was nominated for a Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival; and Sword of Honour, based on the Sword of Honour trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh. He was one of several writers who worked on Chaplin (1992). His television screenwriting credits include: Good and Bad at Games (1983), adapted from Boyd's short story about English public school life; Dutch Girls (1985); Armadillo (2001), adapted from his own novel; A Waste of Shame (2005) about Shakespeare's composition of his sonnets; Any Human Heart (2010), adapted from Boyd's own novel into a Channel 4 series starring Jim Broadbent, which won the 2011 Best Drama Serial BAFTA award; and Restless (2012), also adapted from his own novel. Boyd created the miniseries Spy City which aired in 2020. Plays Boyd adapted two Anton Chekhov short stories – "A Visit to Friends" and "My Life (The Story of a Provincial)" – to create the play Longing. Directed by Nina Raine and performed at London's Hampstead Theatre, the play starred Jonathan Bailey, Tamsin Greig, Natasha Little, Eve Ponsonby, John Sessions and Catrin Stewart. Previews began on 28 February 2013; the press night was on 7 March 2013. Boyd, who was theatre critic for the University of Glasgow in the 1970s and has many actor friends, refers to his ambition to write a play as finally getting "this monkey off my back". A further play by Boyd, The Argument, described as a Strindberg-like take on human dynamics, was performed at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in March 2016. Both plays were published by Methuen Drama (see Bibliography). Non-fiction Protobiography, an autobiographical work by Boyd that recalls his early childhood, was published initially in 1998 by Bridgewater Press in a limited edition. A paperback edition was published in 2005 by Penguin Books. A collection of Boyd's journalism and other non-fiction writing was published in 2005 as Bamboo. Nat Tate hoax In 1998, Boyd published Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928–1960, which presents the paintings and tragic biography of a supposed New York-based 1950s abstract expressionist painter named Nat Tate, who actually never existed and was, along with his paintings, a creation of Boyd's. When the book was initia.... Discover the William Boyd popular books. Find the top 100 most popular William Boyd books.
Best Seller William Boyd Books of 2024
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History of the Thirteen
Honoré de BalzacPassionate and perceptive, the three short novels that make up Balzac's History of the Thirteen are concerned in part with the activities of a rich, powerful, sinister and unscrupu...
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Light Shining in the Forest
Paul Torday'An unsettling, haunting story...memorable, atmospheric and tense' THE LADY'Wellwritten, wellcrafted and constantly gripping' DAILY MAIL'A disquieting and atmospheric psychological...
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Trio
William BoydIt’s summer 1968, and the world is reeling from war and assassinations, protests and riots. In a sunny British seaside town, a producer, a novelist, and an actress are enduring the...
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The Romantic
William BoydFrom the awardwinning, internationally bestselling author, a beguiling romp of a novel, at once intimate and panoramic, about the adventures and misadventures of a nineteenthcentur...
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More Than You Can Say
Paul TordayThe bestselling author of SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN returns with a Buchanesque thriller.'Torday has an extraordinary gift for making apparent "normality" look sinister and strang...
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Armadillo
William BoydOn a cold winter's morning, Lorimer Black, an insurance adjustor young, goodlooking, on the rise goes to keep a perfectly ordinary appointment only to find a hanged man.His life ...
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The Black Tulip
Alexandre Dumas & Robin BussSet at the height of the "tulipomania" that gripped Holland in 17th century, this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle, a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect spe...
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Love Is Blind
William BoydWhen he is hired as the personal piano tuner for a brilliant pianist, Brodie Moncur suddenly finds himself swept up into a life of luxury that he could never have imagined. But whi...
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Judith Faye Kisinger v. William Boyd Kisinger
Fourteenth District, Houston Court of Appeals of TexasIn her writ of error, appellant Judith Faye Kisinger contends that the trial court erred by hearing and granting appellee William Boyd Kisingers Motion to Modify Order in a Suit Af...
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The Orange Girl
Jostein GaarderFrom the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'It should be read by all' VOGUE'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never th...
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The Harz Journey and Selected Prose
Heinrich Heine & Ritchie RobertsonA poet whose verse inspired music by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms, Heinrich Heine (17971856) was in his lifetime equally admired for his elegant prose. This collectio...
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The Gifts of Reading
Robert Macfarlane, William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Chigozie Obioma, Philip Pullman, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Michael Ondaatje, David Pilling, Max Porter, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, SF Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood & Markus ZusakWith contributions by: William Boyd, Candice CartyWilliams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Robert Macfarlane, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina...
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The Fat Chance Guide to Dieting
Claudia PattisonThink nothing tastes as good as slim feels? You're obviously not eating the right food . . .Holly, Naomi and Kate are determined to win the battle of the bulge. So it's down to the...
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The Book of Pet Love and Loss
Sara BaderA powerful collection of quotations by writers, leaders, and legends on the pain of losing a pet and overcoming grief.An animal’s love is deep, uncomplicated, unconditional, and fo...
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The Small Back Room
Nigel BalchinA true modern classic, THE SMALL BACK ROOM is a towering novel of the Second World War.Sammy Rice is a weapons scientist, one of the 'back room boys' of the Second World War. A cri...
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The Castle in the Pyrenees
Jostein GaarderTwo former lovers are brought back together ... but can they really trust their pasts? The new novel from the bestselling author of SOPHIE'S WORLD.Through five intense years in the...
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William Glen Boyd v. State
Court of Criminal Appeals of AlabamaTYSON, JUDGE William Glen Boyd was charged in an eightcount indictment with the capital murders of Fred and Evelyn Blackmon. Four counts of the indictment charged the ap...
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The World According to Anna
Jostein Gaarder & Donald BartlettWhen fifteenyearold Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth...
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Monsieur Ka
Vesna Goldsworthy'A beautiful haunting novel… looking at a familiar London through a frosty, snowy lens. Wonderful' Caryl PhillipsThe London winter of 1947 is as cold as St Petersburg during the Re...
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The Soul Of Kindness
Elizabeth Taylor & Philip HensherINTRODUCED BY PHILIP HENSHER'Elizabeth Taylor is finally being recognised as an important British author: an author of great subtlety, great compassion and great depth. As a reader...
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An Ice-Cream War
William Boyd"Rich in character and incident, An IceCream War fulfills the ambition of the historical novel at its best." The New York Times Book ReviewBooker Prize Finalist"Boyd has more than ...
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Gothic Tales
Elizabeth Gaskell & Laura KranzlerElizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local legends of mysterious vanishings, mix...
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The Nun
Denis DiderotIn 1758 Diderot's friend the Marquis de Croismare became interested in the cause célèbre of a nun who was appealing to be allowed to leave a Paris convent. Less than a year later, ...
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Darkness Falls from the Air
Nigel BalchinThe classic novel of the London Blitz, DARKNESS FALLS FROM THE AIR captures the chaos, absurdity and ultimately the tragedy of life during the bombardment.Featured on BACKLISTED po...
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A Wreath Of Roses
Elizabeth Taylor & Helen DunmoreINTRODUCED BY HELEN DUNMOREElizabeth Taylor's darkest novel . . . She writes with a sensuous richness of language that draws the reader down the most shadowy paths . . . Extremely ...
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The Scarlet Papers
Matthew RichardsonTHE BOOK THOSE IN THE KNOW ARE CALLING THE BEST SPY NOVEL OF THE YEAR One of the 50 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2023 in the Daily Telegraph A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 A GUA...
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De Profundis and Other Prison Writings
Oscar Wilde & Colm TóibínDe Profundis and Other Prison Writings is a new selection of Oscar Wilde's prison letters and poetry in Penguin Classics, edited and introduced by Colm Tóibín.At the start of 1895,...
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Circus of Dreams
John WalshSomething extraordinary happened to the UK literary scene in the 1980s. In the space of eight years, a generation of young British writers took the literary novel into new realms o...
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The Blue Afternoon
William Boyd"A perfectpitch story of love and redemption" (The New York Times), Boyd's atmospheric new novel confirms his reputation as heir to the grand narrative traditions of Joseph Conrad ...
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Any Human Heart
William BoydWilliam Boyd’s masterful new novel tells, in a series of intimate journals, the story of Logan Mountstuartwriter, lover, art dealer, spyas he makes his often precarious way through...
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The Echo Chamber
John Boyne'His relish is infectious' Times'The funniest book I've read in ages. Savage but compelling' Ian Rankin'Funny, rumbustious, unstinting and wonderfully Hogarthian' The Observer'Shar...
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Ordinary Thunderstorms
William Boyd“William Boyd seems singularly blessed with both an innate love of storytelling and the talent to render those stories in swift, confident prose.” The New York Times From William B...
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The Pumpkin Fairy
William BoydThis is a short Halloween play for children.
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The Pursuit of the Well-beloved and the Well-beloved
Thomas HardyHardy's two versions of a strange story set in the weird landscape of Portland. The central figure is a man obsessed both with the search for his ideal woman and with sculpting the...
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A Good Man in Africa
William BoydIn the small African republic of Kinjanja, British diplomat Morgan Leafy bumbles heavily through his job. His love of women, his fondness for drink, and his loathing for the countr...
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The New Confessions
William BoydIn this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twenti...
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Waiting For Doggo
Mark MillsIt takes one scruffy dog to show a man how to fall in love...Noone ever called Dan a pushover. But then noone ever called him fasttrack either. He likes driving slowly, playing Sud...
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The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall
Paul TordayHartlepool Hall has been in Ed's family for generations but is that about to change, and who is the mysterious Lady Alice?'A deliciously dark comedy about class, snobbery and a va...
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Inside Story
Martin AmisAn autobiographical novel that’s a tender, witty exploration of the hardest questions: how to live, how to grieve, and how to diefrom “the Mick Jagger of literature ... Amis is the...
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A Way Through the Wood
Nigel BalchinA psychological study of marriage, loyalty and justice, A WAY THROUGH THE WOOD is a remarkable postwar novel.'A superb storyteller' SUNDAY TIMES 'I'd place him up there with Graha...
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The Tower
Uwe TellkampIn derelict Dresden a cultivated, middleclass family does all it can to cope amid the Communist downfall. This striking tapestry of the East German experience is told through the t...
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Stars and Bars
William BoydSharply observed and brilliantly plotted, Stars and Bars is an uproarious portrait of culture clash deep in the heart of the American South, by one of contemporary literature’s mos...