To mark the 60th anniversary of his written work, Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding's family are giving his literary archive on loan to the University of Exeter. This includes the very different original version of his famous tale of boys fending for themselves on an uninhabited island. The 1954 dystopian novel features a group of British boys who try to govern themselves with disastrous results.
Click here for the BBC's wonderful article on his daughter's thoughts about his writing.
Born on the north Cornish coast in 1911, Golding loved the sea until his death in 1993. However, in the story there is no clear explanation of why the schoolboys are where they are apart from hints that war, possibly nuclear war, has preceded the action.
His daughter believes the book has remained in demand for six decades for two main reasons. The writing compels the reader and the underlying moral questions of survival are still relevant today.
My published co-written novels in the Higher Ground dystopian series are based on a similar premise. Set in Cornwall, UK, a teenage girl sets off to find a ring her mother saw in a dream before she died. Something has happened in the past to remove all technology. The surviving generations are strong and live amongst the trees covering the land. Small groups of society live in different areas, all with rules and customs of their own. We hint at the catastrophe with a 1927 diary excerpt at the beginning of each book, which draws the reader into the adventure of the wonderful characters who band together on the way to the desolate city of Long Doom.