Memoirs of a Private Man

With more than 40 novels to his name, writer Winston Graham, creator of the celebrated Poldark series, has at last found the opportunity to turn his pen to the subject he finds least attractive: himself. His memoirs follow the rise of a delicate Manchester lad from the isolation of Cornwall and creative anonymity to writerly fame and the glittering London film scene. Its pages are peopled by luminaries, among them Alfred Hitchcock, who turned Graham's best-selling novel, Marnie, into a classic film, Gregory Peck and Somerset Maugham, and by a vivacious circle of friends, many of whom have found their way as characters into Graham's novels. His is a life of success, often excess, yet he never loses sight of its foundation: his love of his wife Jean, companion of 50 years and his love of words.