Author(s): Jenny Bond; Chris Sheedy

Cultural Studies

Behind the Bestsellers is a collection of 50 fascinating stories about the lives, loves and literature that inspired the world's greatest books. Full of dinner party trivia, literary history and lore of all kinds, this is a revealing journey through the minds of writers and the life experiences that influenced the creation of our favourite novels, from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Behind these novels are compelling and often moving tales of the authors' powerful and rich life experiences, from love to loss, from adversity to opportunity and from failure to success. JK Rowling, for instance, had the character of Harry Potter in her mind's eye since she was a youngster, but it was the tragic death of her mother which gave the character a spectacular will to live. And when Charlotte Bronte's passionate bond with a charismatic Belgian professor was broken by the professor's wife, she was spurred on to pour her unrequited emotions into the novel Jane Eyre.Celebrating the novels that have captured the imagination and respect of readers around the world, and bringing to life the brilliant and often flawed personalities responsible for their existence, Behind the Bestsellers is guaranteed to be a favourite of book-lovers and book-sellers alike. From Harry Potter to Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and from Pride and Prejudice to The Da Vinci Code, this book has something for everybody. First published 2007.