12 Facts About Julian Rathbone

Julian Christopher Rathbone was an English novelist.

Julian Rathbone was born in 1935 in Blackheath, south London.

Julian Rathbone attended Clayesmore School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was a contemporary of Bamber Gascoigne.

In 1973 Julian Rathbone gave up teaching and left for Spain with the woman who would become his wife and lifelong companion, determined to make his living by writing.

Back in England and after some financially lean years Julian Rathbone found his tenacity beginning to pay off.

Booker Prize short-listings in 1976 and 1979 brought critical recognition, and although major commercial success remained elusive Julian Rathbone's work appeared regularly, gaining a loyal readership and increasing popularity both at home and abroad.

Julian Rathbone's novels continued to display interests and talents across several genres, from mainstream through thrillers to historical fiction.

Julian Rathbone created four characters who appear in more than one book, permitting a certain grouping, while never taking over the heterogeneous spirit of his work or deflecting him from the pursuit of wider fictional interests.

Julian Rathbone remained committed to diversity of inspiration rather than the formulaic approach to which concentration on a single character can lead.

Julian Rathbone never shared the cultural aridity of Leavis but he was a long-term presence in the novelist's background as a man who insisted on the power and importance of imaginative literature.

Julian Rathbone was a man of what might be called the classic Left.

Julian Rathbone described his own interest in Wellington as "probably Oedipal", and the Duke as "the ultimate father-figure".