Sebastian Faulks, the author of bestsellers including Birdsong, The Girl at the Lion D'Or and Charlotte Gray, talks to Alex Preston about his latest work, The Seventh Son, the story of a young academic as she agrees to carry another woman’s child, and how this leads to life-changing consequences.

Sebastian Faulks was born and brought up in Newbury, Berkshire. He worked in journalism before starting to write books. He is the author of the French trilogy, The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray (1989–1997); a triple biography, The Fatal Englishman (1996); a small book of literary parodies, Pistache (2006); and many novels, including Human Traces (2005); Engleby (2007); A Week in December (2009); Paris Echo (2018); and Snow Country (2021).

Photo © Muir Vidler