John Fowles
John Fowles was born in 1926 in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town located 40 miles from London. He describes his family life as intensely conventional and of his childhood, he says "I have tried to escape ever since".

He attended Bedford School, a large boarding school designed to prepare boys for University of Edinburgh. John Fowles joined the Royal Marines in 1945 and served in HO37 Squad with John Gardner, another novelist.

Between 1952 and 1960 he wrote several novels but offered none to a publisher until in 1963 "The Collector" was released and became an immediate best seller. He went on to produce other novels including "The Magus" and "The French Lieutenant's Woman".

Since 1968, John Fowles has lived in Lyme Regis (the setting for the film "The French Lieutenant's Woman"), where he continues to write today.