The French Lieutenant’s Woman

Lyme Regis, 1867: Charles, a respectable scientist, already betrothed to Ernestina, meets Sarah, a fallen woman, and risks everything in pursuit of her.

Charles Smithson, a respectable scientist, is engaged to the charming Ernestina Freeman; but a chance encounter with Sarah Woodruff – the most ravishingly beautiful thing he had ever seen – changes everything. Sarah is a 'fallen' women, a social outcast; and, in the respectable middle-class society of Lyme Regis in 1867, Charles risks everything in pursuit of her.

John Fowles's compelling narrative, exploring the consequences of this relationship for all who are touched by it, has made 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' a modern classic.

John Fowles’ first novel, 'The Collector', was published in 1963 to immediate acclaim and his reputation grew with the appearance of each successive title. 'The Magus' (1966) was described by Anthony Burgess as “an astonishing achievement” while 'The French Lieutenant’s Woman' (1969) was considered by the 'New Statesman' “a splendid, lucid, profoundly satisfying work of art” and turned into a major Hollywood film.

John Fowles lives and writes in Lyme Regis. Dorset.