Success came gradually at first, but the 1978 publication of Eye of the Needle, which became an international bestseller and sold over 10 million copies, made him both wealthy and internationally famous. Later, he said, he began writing books when he needed extra money to fix his car, and the publishers' advance a fellow journalist had been paid for a thriller was the sum required for the repairs. He began writing fiction during evenings and weekends as a hobby. Finding the work unchallenging, he eventually left journalism for publishing and became, by the late 1970s, deputy managing director of the small London publisher Everest Books.
In 1973 a daughter, Marie-Claire, was born.Īfter three years in Cardiff, he returned to London as a general-assignment reporter for the Evening News. After graduation in the autumn of 1970, Follett took a three-month post-graduate course in journalism and went to work as a trainee reporter in Cardiff on the South Wales Echo. He married Mary, in 1968, and their son Emanuele was born in the same year. He won admission in 1967 to University College London, where he studied philosophy and became involved in centre-left politics. His family moved to London when he was ten years old, and he began applying himself to his studies at Harrow Weald Grammar School and Poole Technical College. Barred from watching films and television by his Plymouth Brethren parents, he developed an early interest in reading but remained an indifferent student until he entered his teens. He was the first child of Martin Follett, a tax inspector, and Lavinia (Veenie) Follett, who went on to have two more children, Hannah and James.
Early life and education įollett was born on 5 June 1949 in Cardiff, Wales. For example, in the US, many reached the number-one position on the New York Times Best Seller list, including Triple (1979), The Key to Rebecca (1980), Lie Down with Lions (1985), A Dangerous Fortune (1993), World Without End (2007), Fall of Giants (2010), Winter of the World (2012), and Edge of Eternity (2014). Many of his books have achieved high ranking on bestseller lists. Kenneth Martin Follett, CBE, FRSL (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
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