Fire Down Below

Introduced by Kate Mosse, lose yourself in an epic naval journey in the final novel in the Booker Prize-winning historical fiction Sea Trilogy by the author of Lord of the Flies.

On the last stretch of its epic voyage from England to Australia, a disintegrating warship inches towards land. But there are still trials ahead, as the vessel is smashed against an ice cliff and blasted by a great storm, while the claustrophobic passengers battle erotic desires, masculine rivalry and violent power struggles – all experiencing a sea change in their natures. And when an unseen fire begins to smoulder below decks, the other side of the world has never seemed further away …

About the Author

William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential writers of modern times.

Lord of the Flies, his first novel, has been read by millions, translated into more than forty-five languages, and adapted for screen and stage drama. He drew on his own experience as a teacher and his service in the Second World War, where – as he says – he saw 'what one man could do to another'. In the novel a group of schoolboys emerge from a plane crash on an idylical tropical island. There are no adults, and they must survive on their own. The ensuing events continue to grip new readers every day, and the story has entered popular cultures all over the world.

William Golding then wrote a series of remarkable novels on such wide-ranging subjects as the last days of the Neanderthals (The Inheritors), the life-and-death struggles of an anti-hero (Pincher Martin), and the moral cost of making a work of art (The Spire). His settings are as diverse as post-war London (Darkness Visible) and ancient Greece (The Double Tongue). In his sea trilogy, To the Ends of the Earth, he takes the reader on an early nineteenth-century voyage to Australia, displaying a flair for adventure and comedy, as well as offering a profound analysis of class and sexuality. Rites of Passage, the first novel of the sea trilogy, won the Booker Prize in 1980.

Praise for Fire Down Below

'Fantastic … Gems tumble off the pages … A strong sense of drama … Much of the pleasure of reading his work is his original imagery.'
– Annie Proulx

'A truly noble achievement.'
– Patrick O'Brien

'The best novel I've read this year … The language fizzes and spits.'
– Daily Telegraph

'Reeks and resounds with authenticity … The epic imaginative enterprise [is] as formidable a feat as the year-long odyssey it charts.'
– Sunday Times

'Golding writes the past as present [with] uncanny skill and tremendous intuition.'
– Ben Okri