William Horwood biography
William Horwood is an English author born in Oxford on the 12th of May 1944. He was brought up on the south-east coast of England and attended Bristol University where he graduated with a degree in Geography. The works for which he is best known are the best-selling Duncton Mole trilogies and the sequels to Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
Horwood worked as a teacher, journalist and news reporter during a varied career before the publication of Duncton Wood in 1980. The book became an international bestseller and he has not looked back since. The Duncton and Willows books are loved by both children and adults alike and draw favourable comparisons with Richard Adam's Watership Down.
William Horwood on The Wind in The Willows during an interview with Harper Collins.
The Duncton books consisted of two trilogies, The Duncton Chronicles and The Book of Silence, and where written between 1980 and 1993. The books follow the magical and spiritual journeys of a community of moles belonging to the Duncton Wood system.
William Horwood interview with Harper Collins.
William Horwood's other notable works include The Stonor Eagles, Callanish and Skallagrigg.
WilliamHorwood.net is the most comprehensive website on William Horwood and his work - the perfect place to visit if you are looking for a great deal more information on the author.
The Duncton Chronicles - inspiration and acknowledgement
The Boy with No Shoes
The Boy With No Shoes is the deeply moving memoir of author William Horwood. It is the story of an extraordinary journey from a past too painful to imagine to a future every child deserves.
Based on best-selling novelist William Horwood’s own heartbreaking boyhood in south-east England after the Second World War, this is a triumphant story of a boy’s struggle with early trauma and his remarkable journey into adulthood. Using all the skills the went into the creation of his modern classics Duncton Wood, Skallagrigg and The Willows in Winter, Horwood has painted an unforgettable picture of childhood suffering, personal survival and the power of faith and courage to turn darkness into light.
The title of the book comes from a moment in the author’s childhood when his real father gave him a pair of shoes, the only present he had ever, until that point, received. His cruel half brother and cousin took and hid away the shoes - it was an event that stayed with him for the rest of his life. Before the book has even started, Horwood says that he would exchange the enormous success of his later novels to have known that identity of his real father and to have ‘held his hand, if only for a moment’.
The cruelty and neglect that Horwood suffered during childhood was marked, leading to depression and a phobia of rain. The story shows how important friends and family are in the shaping of a youngster’s life. Mr & Mr Bubbles, Arthur Sanders, Mr Wharton and Granny are names that will never be forgotten.
The window was a picture of mountains, peaks and valleys, shadowed cliffs and patches of green on which the sun was rising fast. They were so high I thought it would take a lifetime to reach the top of them. Stoning and the waves on the shingle beach seemed far away.
‘Those mountains are where Edmund Hilary practised before he went to climb Everest,’ said Uncle Max. ‘That big one is called Snowdon and all together they’re called Snowdonia.’
The book’s ending is wonderful, if it wasn’t true then it would have to be classed as far-fetched, an uplifting experience that will stay with the reader forever.
The only shame is that there are not more references to the inspirations that lead to the writing of the beautiful Duncton Chronicles. Luckily, a joyous trip to Snowdonia, the learning of flowers names on the dunes near his coastal town provides an insight into this.
The sun shone on the white cliffs of the East Kent coast and all along my shingly shore. I stood and stared and thought a long, long time. I remembered a boy running from a man with shears, I remembered a locked gate, I remembered a hand holding mine in the time long ago; and a pair of shoes that I lost and couldn’t find.
William Horwood books
- Duncton Wood (1980)
- Duncton Quest (1988)
- Duncton Found (1989)
- Duncton Tales (1991)
- Duncton Rising (1993)
- Duncton Stone (1993)
- The Willows in Winter (1993)
- Toad Triumphant (1995)
- The Willows and Beyond (1996)
- Mole Gets Lost (1997)
- Flying into Danger (1997)
- Toad in Trouble (1997)
- Willows at Christmas (1998)
Latest news: William Horwood
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Colfer and Benedictus are rewarded for their courage
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Basajaun by Rosemary van Deuren
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Since Duncton Wood was first published in 1979, William Horwood has received thousands of letters from readers asking about the conception and writing of what has become a fantasy classic. He has been able to provide some answers through correspondence and at a limited number of public talks. Howeve [...]
Grassington: the area that inspired Tolkien and Horwood
Grassington can be found in the Yorkshire Dales National Parks. It is a remote part of Northern England , thousands of sheep break the silence amongst a latticework of drystone walls separating lush, green valleys. Grassington has proven inspirational to many authors, not least among them JRR Tolki [...]
Duncton Wood re-reviewed
I have recently re-read Duncton Wood by William Horwood and felt that it deserved a better review than it initially had. The new review can be found by following the link below. It really is a enchanting and spellbinding novel and if you liked Watership Down then you will love it. The rating has rec [...]
Duncton Wood finished, The King Beyond The Gate started
I have recently re-read Duncton Wood by William Horwood and thoroughly enjoyed it. A full review will follow. I have now started on David Gemmell's The King Beyond The Gate, a book from the Drenai series. I am currently a couple of chapters into it and it's already everything I'd expected and hoped [...]
The best fantasy books for young adults
We can all remember the great fantasy books from our childhood. Some of us have gone back to these very same books as adults and enjoyed them over and over again, sometimes with the helping of a large dose of nostalgia. However, there are a few of these that stand the test of time and maturity and s [...]
William Horwood interviews
An interview with book publishers Harper Collins on writing the sequels to Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows.
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/authors/interview.aspx?aid=2747&id=255
William Horwood critical acclaim
"An absolute spell-binder, by Lord of the Rings out of Watership Down. I found it enchanting, compulsive reading ... I am still haunted by its beauty" Magnus Magnusson
"His mole empire is a delight, his romantic tale full of adventure, suspense, battle and searchings" Publishers Weekly
"Altogether, Duncton Wood is a breathtaking achievement" Washington Post
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Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
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Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
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Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
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