The Fatal Englishman

April 8, 2002
In his first work of nonfiction, Faulks, a bestselling British novelist, takes up the brief but brilliant lives of three gifted countrymen who died young: painter Christopher Wood; fighter pilot Richard Hillary; and foreign correspondent Jeremy Wolfenden, considered the brightest mind of his generation. Through these tragic tales, Faulks explores the British character as it painfully evolved during the 20th century, spurring both the acceleration and fatal plunge of these vital young men. Wood, a part of the beau monde
of 1920s Paris, drew praise from the likes of Picasso and Jean Cocteau. Hillary, who heroically returned to the skies after a fiery dogfight, won renown as a writer in his early 20s. While the sections on Wood and Hillary prove interesting, they are sometimes plodding, and shot through to distraction with background information. The final section on Wolfenden, however, is gripping. Great things were expected of the Eton and Oxford standout even as he became a reckless, alcoholic correspondent in Moscow, drawn into the world of Cold War espionage. While ambition, addiction and arrogance play destructive roles in these lives, homosexuality and the British attitude toward it is a recurring theme that Faulks suggests as a contributing factor. But the complaints here are mostly minor. The writing is solid, at times poetic, and the research thorough. In the end, Faulks manages to jolt the imagination with the tantalizing agony of what-might-have-been. 8 pages of photos not seen by PW. (May 12).Forecast:The recent release of the film version of Faulks's novel
Charlotte Gray and of his new novel,
On Green Dolphin Street, may help build a critical mass of readers. This triptych was an acclaimed bestseller across the pond, but with its English setting, a more modest fate seems likely.

April 1, 2002
Fans of novelist Faulks's evocative depictions of wartime heroism (e.g., Charlotte Gray) will embrace his first venture into biography, a study of three brilliant yet mortally flawed men who lived on either side of the World War II era. Working in chronological order, Faulks first sketches the life of artist Christopher "Kit" Wood. Wood's ambition to become a great painter led him to Paris in the 1920s, where charm and circumstance placed him in the company of cultural giants like Picasso and Cocteau. In a profile of Royal Air Force ace Richard Hillary, Faulks ably changes gears as he describes a man who personified the casual fatalism of a spitfire pilot. Faulks finishes with Jeremy Wolfenden, a proud homosexual and dazzlingly intelligent journalist ensnared in Cold War blackmail and spy games. Of course, as the title informs us, these men are all doomed to an early death. There is nothing romantic about killing yourself with drugs, drink, or daredevilry, yet Faulks is able to captivate with his meticulous, caring treatment of these three who died on the cusp of greatness. Recommended for all public and academic libraries. Gail Benjafield, St. Catharines P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2002
Through his novels" Birdsong" (1996) and " Charlotte Grey" (1999), Faulks has examined Britain's maturation into modernity through both world wars. Here, the acclaimed novelist succeeds in describing real-life stories of three men who died tragically young and who symbolize Britain's loss of both empire and idealism. Christopher Wood was a public school boy who was hailed as the greatest English artist since Augustus John. He eventually killed himself, still in his twenties. Richard Hillary was a privileged, handsome World War II fighter pilot, who died mysteriously in a training accident, also in his twenties. Jeremy Wolfenden was the cleverest boy in England, both brilliant and bored; he was a spy, an alcoholic, and openly gay in 1950s Britain. He died tragically in his thirties, under suspicious circumstances. These three men, like the country, grew up quickly, forcedly, and suffered from a sense of despair and disillusionment. Faulks once again succeeds in presenting a gripping tale of Britain struggling to mature over the course of the two world wars of this past century.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)