The article reviews Jeffrey Archer's final novel "Adam & Eve," which tells the story of two children born into vastly different social classes on Armistice Day 1918 and follows their lives through World War II. The reviewer discusses Archer's controversial status as a popular author who faced criticism despite selling over 300 million books, reflecting on how societal class divides affected perceptions of his work.
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Story summary
In the 1980s, Jeffrey Archer was a ubiquitous figure in British media, known for his bestselling novels and controversial personal life. Despite being accused of various misdeeds and serving time for perjury at Belmarsh Prison, Archer remained prolific, selling over 300 million books. His latest work, intended to be his last, came shortly before his recent death, which garnered largely positive reviews. Archer's impact on literature was significant; critics noted the social commentary in his writings, such as highlighting drug addiction issues among prisoners.
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journalism → support → readers
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we → purchase → commission
Back in the 1980s, you couldn’t open a paper without seeing Jeffrey Archer.
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you → open → Archer
He was accused of this, lambasted for that, and hosted phenomenally popular parties in his swanky Thames-side apartment.
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And he wrote books, dozens of them, the kind of books which attached themselves to the top of the best seller lists as if with superglue (he has, his obituaries said this week, sold over 300 million books, which is a lot more than I have, and I’ve written nearly as many).
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I → write → many
That was the extent of our relationship until I read A Prison Diary, a rather brilliant book about the time he spent in Belmarsh, the Category A high-security prison in south-east London where he was incarcerated for perjury.
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he → read → perjury
A terrific read, it highlighted the fact there were more heroin addicts coming out of prison than going in.
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it → highlight → prison
Until a few weeks ago, when I was asked to review his latest novel, which proudly said it would be his last.
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it → ask → novel
In a plot development worthy of Archer himself, he passed away this week, to largely generous notices, and with good reason.
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he → pass → reason
The silliness of Archer snobs
Reading a Jeffrey Archer book was always a bit like listening to Capital Gold — they weren’t offensive, there would be parts of the experience you’d enjoy, but the overall experience was a bit “meh”.
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experience → read → experience
However, I’ve always rather despised the snobs who dismiss so-called popular novelists, as to me they always come across as the grammar school kids who patronised us secondary modern kids when I was young.
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I → despise → kids
But then Archer attracted a different kind of snobbishness, because critics didn’t like the idea of him being successful.
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him → attract → idea
They could put up with the success of Lee Child or Robert Harris, JK Rowling or Jilly Cooper, Tony Parsons or James Patterson, but Archer was considered to be beyond the pale.
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Archer → put → pale
I wondered how distracting Adam & Eve would be on a railway journey from Paddington to Abergavenny.
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Adam → wonder → Abergavenny
On this trip, so fearful was I of taking my book out and the public scrutiny that would follow, I fully expected the train announcer to say, “We advise you to avoid carriage number three as we’ve spotted someone reading the latest book by Jeffrey Archer.
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someone → take → Archer
The book follows two children born on Armistice Day in 1918, hours apart but into vastly different worlds.
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book → follow → worlds
Despite class divisions, they forge a deep bond that endures through the turbulent decades between the world wars.
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that → forge → wars
As Britain faces the threat of Nazi invasion in 1940, their courage, sacrifices and choices unexpectedly influence the nation’s destiny.
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courage → face → destiny
Spanning the Norfolk Broads, Dunkirk and wartime Britain, the novel predictably but not unenjoyably rattles along, one of those potboilers that ignores adjectives and yet manages to conjure up a completely inhabitable world.
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that → span → world
Gripping almost till the end
There are some great lines in it, which you feel Archer could have littered the book with if he had wanted it to be read by fewer people.
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it → grip → people
“Every Brancaster had hobbies,” he writes.
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he → have → hobbies
For the ninth Earl of Brancaster, it was vintage wines that gathered dust in his cellar, while his brother specialised in second-edition women, but only after leaving a roulette wheel that rarely settled on his chosen number.
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that → gather → number
The plot is pretty good, I took to the characters, and it’s all quite engrossing.
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it → take → characters
I suppose my problem is that I didn’t really care enough about what happened in the end, even though I enjoyed it when I got there.
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I → suppose → it
But then I think that’s probably my fault, and not Jeffrey Archer’s.
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that → think → ?
The Aporia
