Francis Guy Percy Wyndham FRSL (2 July 1924 – 28 December 2017) was an English author, literary editor and journalist.

Life and work

Francis Wyndham was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1924 to Violet Lutetia Leverson and

Guy Percy Wyndham Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Percy Wyndham (19 January 1865 – 17 April 1941) was a British Army soldier. Background and family Wyndham was born on 19 January 1865 as the son of Hon. Percy Wyndham and Madeline Caroline Frances Eden Campbell. He was t ...

. His mother was the daughter and biographer of the writer

Ada Leverson Ada Esther Leverson (née Beddington; 10 October 1862 – 30 August 1933) was a British writer who is known for her friendship with Oscar Wilde and for her work as a witty novelist of the fin-de-siècle. Family Leverson was born into a Jewish ...

(a friend of Oscar Wilde, whom Wilde called "Sphynx"). His father was a retired soldier and diplomat, had been a member of "

The Souls The Souls was a small loosely-knit but distinctive elite social and intellectual group in the United Kingdom from 1885 to the turn of the century. Many of the most distinguished British politicians and intellectuals of the time were members. Th ...

", and was significantly older than his mother ("more like a grandfather really"). Wyndham also had a brother and, from his father's earlier marriage, a half-brother and half-sister, the photographer

Olivia Wyndham Olivia Madeline Grace Mary Wyndham (30 November 1897 – 1967) was a British society photographer and a member of the 1920s socialite group known as the bright young things. The daughter of Colonel Guy Percy Wyndham, C.B., M.V.O. (a member of t ...

(another son from this earlier marriage had died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

). He graduated from

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

in 1940, spent a year at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and then was drafted into the army in 1942 until it was discovered he was suffering from TB. He was discharged and returned to London, where he began writing reviews for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' and short stories (collected in ''Out of the War''). From 1953 he worked in publishing, first for Derek Verschoyle and then for

André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentis ...

as a reader (where he became involved with the writing careers of, and friends with,

Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, ...

V. S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienati ...

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for he ...

and

Edward St Aubyn Edward St Aubyn (born 14 January 1960) is an English author and journalist. He is the author of ten novels, including notably the semi-autobiographical ''Patrick Melrose'' novels. In 2006, ''Mother's Milk'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. ...

). He left to become an editor at ''

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

'' magazine and in 1964 was hired by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' (moving with his friend

Mark Boxer Charles Mark Edward Boxer (19 May 1931 – 20 July 1988) was a British magazine editor and social observer, and a political cartoonist and graphic portrait artist working under the pen-name ‘Marc’. Education Boxer was educated at Berkhamste ...

), where he stayed until 1980. He became

' literary executor after her death in 1979.

Selected bibliography

Fiction

* ''Out of the War'' (1974) * ''Mrs Henderson and Other Stories'' (1985) * ''The Other Garden'' (1987)

Essays and non-fiction

* Co-author with David King of ''Trotsky: A Documentary'' (1972) * ''The Theatre of Embarrassment'' (1991)

Editing

* Co-editor with Diana Melly of '' Jean Rhys: Letters 1931-1966'' (1984), the selected letters of Jean Rhys.

Awards

* Whitbread First Novel Award (1987) for ''The Other Garden''

References

External links

"It was a monologue, but it was a monologue that I wanted to hear"
''Observer'' interview with

Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...

, 17 August 2008.
"Francis Wyndham: Bruce, Jean, Vidia and me"
''Independent'' interview with

and Suzi Feay, 17 August 2008.
"Francis Wyndham talks about himself to Alan Hollinghurst"
''London Review of Books'' interview with

Alan Hollinghurst Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize. Early life and education H ...

, 1988 aywall * Francis King
"More nattering please" - review of ''The Other Garden and Collected Stories''
''The Spectator'', 10 September 2008.
Francis Wyndham, "Tempting Targets"
- review of ''Mother's Milk'' by Edward St Aubyn, ''New York Review of Books'', 6 November 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyndham, Francis Guy Percy 1924 births 2017 deaths English male journalists English editors 21st-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists English male novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Francis 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English male writers Writers from London British Army personnel of World War II