Jeffrey Archer, Novelist Whose Real Life Rivaled His Thrillers, Dies at 86
Jeffrey Archer, a best-selling British author, politician, philanthropist, athlete and one-time jailbird, whose résumé seesawed between achievement and disgrace, and who inspired abiding public fascination with headline-grabbing accounts, both fictional and personal, of ambition, self-promotion, misbehavior and scandal, died on Monday at his home in London.He was 86.His publisher, HarperCollins, announced his death in a statement.
His final novel, “Adam and Eve,” about the intertwined destinies of the highborn and the humble, was scheduled for publication on Tuesday.Mr.Archer’s thrillers and sagas of the rich and powerful sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide.
In his London apartment overlooking the Thames, the walls were adorned with paintings, including works by Monet and Picasso.As a host there, he became known for annual parties at which celebrity guests were served top-end Krug champagne and lowly shepherd’s pie.He also maintained homes in Mallorca and in the village of Grantchester outside Cambridge, England, where he bought the 17th century Old Vicarage, once the home of the poet Rupert Brooke.
Routinely, he was reported to borrow the overseas homes of wealthy friends and acquaintances to compose the multiple first drafts of his novels.In his days as a politician — both as a member of Parliament in the elected House of Commons and as deputy head of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party — he displayed a barely veiled hunger for the top job.His friendships and alliances eventually won him a place in the unelected House of Lords with the title Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare — his childhood hometown in southwest England.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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