By John Cairns

Celebrity author Jeffrey Archer’s two long years (2001-03) spent locked in British prisons have turned into a big plus for his readers.

“Having had two years in prison was an immense advantage in writing about the new world I encountered, the 1,000 new people I met,” said Jeffrey, who visited Hong Kong early this week to promote his new novel, A Prisoner of Birth (2008, Macmillan, 531 pages).

In this, Jeffrey’s 14th novel (160,000 words), an auto mechanic named Danny Cartwright goes to prison, wrongly accused of murder. Suddenly, he gains a glorious chance to retaliate.

“The book’s prison content is utterly realistic because I’ve been there,” Jeffrey said. “I hope you’ll consider the prison characters, like Danny, Big Al and Nick Moncrieff, credible and think that I may have met them because I did meet them.”

Just two weeks shy of his 68th birthday, Jeffrey followed a grueling schedule of speeches and book-signings. Then he moved on for more in Australia and India.

By now, Jeffrey has invented enough fictional characters to populate a medium-sized city. But few of them can rival the glories and glamour, the charisma and controversies, of his own life. He has a complex history as a famous prisoner, promising politician and fleet-footed athlete.

In 1999, Jeffrey was charged with perjury in the wake of a newspaper-libel trial. Once convicted, he served two years before going free on parole. With ample time and few distractions, he could write up to a million words a year when “inside”. His usual output is 400,000.

Cat O’ Nine Tales, his latest short-story collection (from 2006), has powerful prison flavors too. He even published three volumes of prison diaries.

Jeffrey’s prose appears in 30-plus languages. Yet he doesn’t type and lacks computer savvy. “My ability with anything mechanical is nearly zero,” he said. “I handwrite every word with a felt-tipped pen on lined paper.”

Shaping his words by pen cultivates ideas. “As the pen moves, you think about the next sentence,” Jeffrey said. “You have more time. Ideas come.” In prison, this technique sustained him. “The authorities wouldn’t have allowed me to have a computer.”

Some fans call Jeffrey the most famous British author since Charles Dickens. But his critics grumble about one-dimensional characters and shallow plots. “The only way to deal with critics is to do the best you can,” Jeffrey said.

For A Prisoner of Birth, he wrote 17 drafts. “It’s a long process,” he said. “I don’t mind anyone saying, ‘It’s not very good, Jeffrey.’ What I’d dislike is if I’d only done 10 drafts and agreed that it wasn’t very good.

“Even if you don’t like A Prisoner of Birth, it’s still the best I can do. Writers need to feel that way, or else they’re dissatisfied for the rest of their lives.”

Sales of Jeffrey’s books exceed 135 million copies. His previous novel, False Impression (2006), appeared on British bestseller lists. The others include: Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less; Kane and Abel; The Prodigal Daughter; First Among Equals; The Fourth Estate; and The Eleventh Commandment.

Jeffrey and Mary, his wife, divide their time between London and Cambridge. They have two sons, William and James.

Born in London, Jeffrey, the son of a printer, excelled as a young athlete. In 1966, he “ran the 100 yards for Britain in 9.6 seconds”.

After a stint on the Greater London Council, he became a 29-year-old Member of Parliament, one of the youngest ever. But five years later, debts from a bad investment (in Aquablast, a Canadian company) prompted him to resign from the House of Commons. Trying to clear the slate, he wrote a first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, published in 1976.

“It wasn’t an instant success,” Jeffrey said. “Seventeen publishers turned down the book. The 18th bought it for 3,000 pounds and published only 3,000 copies at first.”

Jeffrey’s “real breakthrough” came with a 1979 novel, Kane and Abel, which his agent auctioned to leading U.S. publishers. It fetched millions, “which I must confess made a slight difference in my life.”

Later, Jeffrey’s books delivered consistent success. “It’s best to write about what you know,” he said. So politics, power and now prison life give him rich themes.

In the 1980s, Jeffrey served as deputy chairman of the Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher. In 1997, he became the Mayor of London, a post he held for two years. He’s spent 14 years in the House of Lords.

Such political activities brought Jeffrey into contact with Chris Patten, another prominent Tory, later Hong Kong’s last British governor (1992-97). “He’s a very able man who should be held in high regard for doing his best to move Hong Kong forward,” Jeffrey said. “Certainly, he never hesitated to say how he felt.”

Jeffrey enjoys working as an amateur auctioneer to benefit charities. In 2004, he ran in a London marathon, finishing in five hours, 26 minutes. He even played a cameo role in the movie, Bridget Jones’ Diary.

The prison stay ended Jeffrey’s political career, and he looks unlikely to try reviving it. He no longer needs more fame or money. “I don’t need another penny in my life. I don’t need anything,” he said.

Yet his creative motivation remains. “I want more people to read me. I get so much happiness out of someone telling me, ‘I bought it last night. I finished it at 4 a.m.’ That’s magic.”

For Jeffrey’s books, the sky’s still the limit.


Focused on the page, Jeffrey signs a book.


The author takes time for photos with fans.

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