John Fowles, author of The Collector, The Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Ebony Tower, talks with Swaim about his recent book at the time, A Maggot. This book broke the mold of historical novels mainly because he doesn’t like historical novels. This novel was more of his dream of drifting back into history, back to the 1700s. He wanted to give readers the feeling of what life would have been like during that time for the Shakers. Shakers were an offshoot of the Quakers. As strict believers in celibacy, Shakers maintained their numbers through conversion and adoption.

It is fiction, but he didn’t want to cheat his readers. So he sought to create an accurate picture of the period. Although Fowles describes himself as a "convinced atheist," he appreciates the historical values of this religious sect.

To hear more about Fowles’ works, and his life, click on the link below.

Download Free RealPlayer
or
Search the RealPlayer Archives
for a player that will work with older computers
(note: version 5.0 or higher is required)

For over a decade, many of the best writers of the English language found their way onto Don Swaim's daily two-minute CBS Radio show, Book Beat. His New York-based program was derived from longer interviews, sometimes 40-minutes in length. Found exclusively here, Wired for Books proudly webcasts these conversations in their entirety using RealAudio.