William Golding: The Faber Letters Event Review

To celebrate the recent publication of William Golding: The Faber Letters, publishers Faber & Faber hosted an exciting event. Professor Tim Kendall, editor of the Letters, was joined by Judy Golding Carver, William Golding’s daughter, on the panel, hosted by Dr Nicola Presley. During the event, the panel read letters, showed manuscript images, discusses the editing process and, towards the end, opens a Q&A to the audience. Kendall notes that “What frustrates me about letter collections is that you normally only get one side of the story.” But when it comes to these letters, the reader is given both sides of the correspondence, allowing a unique and compelling conversation to emerge between Golding and his editor Charles Monteith.

Kendall began the event by describing his experience when editing the letters, which consists of over 500 pages of 40+ years of correspondence. He described the scale of the archival task and praises the undergraduate helpers that assisted him with the transcription. Overall, the project took seven years to complete. Judy Golding described the resurfacing of her personal memories because of the letters and was particularly struck when she saw her grandparents’ telephone number listed in one of them. She offers a unique insight into her parents’ early struggles, especially through the long wait for Lord of the Flies to be published. The potential in Golding’s novel was recognised by Monteith, who became an editor at Faber in 1953. Judy describes reading their exchange in letters as ‘intense’ and the panel discuss the poignancy of Monteith’s letters after Golding’s death.

A key point of discussion in the correspondence was the title for Golding’s debut novel. Golding originally called the book Strangers from Within, but Faber came up with a list of alternatives. Monteith wrote to Golding to say: ‘We have now thought again about a title for your novel and the latest suggestion I have got is that it should be called LORD OF THE FLIES. This isn’t my own suggestion; it occurred to someone else.’ Judy explored Golding’s instant acceptance of the title, and the panel discussed how Monteith carefully edited the manuscript, particularly the sections involving Simon, while preserving the crucial “Lord of the Flies” scene. In one letter, Golding explained the representation of Simon, stating how ‘[h]e wasn’t meant to be a good boy. He was meant to be a saint.’

The panel also briefly discusses the poeticism behind The Inheritors, a deeply personal novel, where Neanderthals are threatened by Homo Sapiens. Golding wrote to Monteith about how pleased he was with the manuscript: ‘Stories float in the air and settle in these parts like flying saucers’. During the discussion, Judy explained her personal connections to this novel, where the characters remind her of close relatives, and Golding’s personal desire to be a poet was revealed.

This event served as a reminder that even the most formidable literary figures are built from handwritten pages, careful editors, and the individuals who preserve their stories.