BOOK DETAILS
Case laminate hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1948405997 List Price: $34.99 U.S. Pages: 306 Published: 2021 BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1954321007 List Price: $19.99 U.S. Pages: 306 Published: 2021 |
Act of Darkness (1983)
Francis King Hardcover / Paperback
Book Description
A gripping murder mystery and a profound meditation on the nature of evil The scene is 1930s India during the waning days of British colonization. The Thompsons, a prosperous and respectable English family, are enjoying a summer at their beautiful villa when a brutal murder is committed that will tear the family apart. But what seems at first to be an act of terrorism against British rule will turn out to be something much more sinister. After a series of surprising twists and turns, the truth behind the abominable crime will at last be revealed, an explanation far more shocking than anyone could have ever imagined ... One of the most distinguished English novelists of the 20th century, Francis King (1923-2011) wrote fifty books over a sixty-five year career. Act of Darkness (1983) was the author’s best-selling and most universally acclaimed work, a remarkable achievement that is both a beautifully written literary novel and a gripping, page-turning thriller that is almost impossible to put down. |
reviews
‘A terrific mystery . . . Unfolds like an evil blossom, each layer of petals curling down to reveal another layer of ambiguity and menace’ - The New York Times
‘Dark, lurid and shattering . . . he is a master novelist’ - Melvyn Bragg
‘Unputdownable’ - Paul Bailey, Evening Standard
‘Beautifully written . . . brilliantly successful’ - Auberon Waugh, Daily Mail
‘Dark, lurid and shattering . . . he is a master novelist’ - Melvyn Bragg
‘Unputdownable’ - Paul Bailey, Evening Standard
‘Beautifully written . . . brilliantly successful’ - Auberon Waugh, Daily Mail
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Francis King was born in Switzerland in 1923 and spent the first eight years of his life in India before being sent back to England to a boarding school. A bright student, he earned a Classics scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford, but later changed to English literature, and published his first novel, To the Dark Tower (1946) while still an undergraduate. This novel, and his next two, Never Again (1947) (an autobiographical novel based on King’s childhood) and An Air That Kills (1948), were published by Home and Van Thal, which then went bankrupt, but not before King had established himself as a promising young novelist.
Beginning in 1949, King worked for the British Council and travelled extensively, including to Italy, Greece, and Japan, all of which would provide settings for his novels. His next book, The Dividing Stream (1951), set in Florence, won the Somerset Maugham Award and cemented King’s status as one of the bright young literary stars of his generation. During the 1950s and 60s, King published a string of excellent works, including The Dark Glasses (1954), The Man on the Rock (1957), The Widow (1957), The Custom House (1961), and The Waves Behind the Boat (1965).
In 1966, King resigned from the British Council to devote himself to writing full-time and supplemented his income by writing book and theatre reviews and working as a literary adviser to the publishing house of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
He continued to write prolifically, and notable highlights include the gay-themed novel A Domestic Animal (1970), which drew a threat of a libel action, The Action (1978), which narrowly missed the Booker shortlist, and Act of Darkness (1983), which, unlike many of King’s books—which were always well-received critically—was relatively successful commercially.
King went on writing until his death in 2011, making the Booker longlist with The Nick of Time (2003) and publishing a revised 60th anniversary edition of An Air That Kills with Valancourt Books in 2008; his final novel, Cold Snap, appeared in 2010.
Beginning in 1949, King worked for the British Council and travelled extensively, including to Italy, Greece, and Japan, all of which would provide settings for his novels. His next book, The Dividing Stream (1951), set in Florence, won the Somerset Maugham Award and cemented King’s status as one of the bright young literary stars of his generation. During the 1950s and 60s, King published a string of excellent works, including The Dark Glasses (1954), The Man on the Rock (1957), The Widow (1957), The Custom House (1961), and The Waves Behind the Boat (1965).
In 1966, King resigned from the British Council to devote himself to writing full-time and supplemented his income by writing book and theatre reviews and working as a literary adviser to the publishing house of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
He continued to write prolifically, and notable highlights include the gay-themed novel A Domestic Animal (1970), which drew a threat of a libel action, The Action (1978), which narrowly missed the Booker shortlist, and Act of Darkness (1983), which, unlike many of King’s books—which were always well-received critically—was relatively successful commercially.
King went on writing until his death in 2011, making the Booker longlist with The Nick of Time (2003) and publishing a revised 60th anniversary edition of An Air That Kills with Valancourt Books in 2008; his final novel, Cold Snap, appeared in 2010.