September 1954: Faber publishes a debut novel by a teacher from Salisbury, saved from the ‘reject’ pile. In the weeks following its release, Stevie Smith deems it ‘quite out of the ordinary’, and C. S. Lewis declares it a ‘brilliant success’.
September 2024: Seventy years and millions of readers later, Lord of the Flies is widely regarded as one of English literature’s most seminal novels. The world’s first graphic novel adaptation of the title by Aimée de Jongh is released to mark this momentous anniversary.
Then & Now: Lord of the Flies at Seventy is an exhibition to celebrate William Golding’s iconic novel, featuring original artwork from the graphic novel by Aimée de Jongh, covers through the eras and and facsimiles of legendary archival material, including the novel’s infamous rejection note and letters between William Golding and the book’s editor, Charles Monteith, as they worked on the final draft. Housed at Faber’s offices, the exhibition delves behind the scenes of the publication story and its initial reception and reveals a new world for the novel via Aimée de Jongh’s immersive adaptation.
The Exhibition will run from 11-25 September 2024 in the Gallery at The Bindery, Hatton Garden, and is curated by Chris Walker in partnership with Faber. Entry is free and open to the public on weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Image: Original artwork in pencil and Indian ink on paper. © Aimée de Jongh, 2024, based on Lord of the Flies © William Golding, 1954. Courtesy William Golding Limited.
Age recommendation: 12+
- This exhibition is being held at Faber’s premises at The Bindery, 51 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8HN.
- Opening hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Entry is free.
- The nearest Underground stations are Chancery Lane (Central line) and Farringdon (Circle line, Elizabeth line, Hammersmith & City line, Metropolitan line).
William Golding (1911 – 1993) was born in Cornwall and educated in Marlborough and Oxford. Before becoming a writer, he was an actor, lecturer, small-boat sailor, musician and schoolteacher. In 1940 he joined the Royal Navy and took part in the D-Day operation and liberation of the Netherlands. Lord of the Flies, his first novel, was rejected by several publishers but rescued from the ‘slush pile’ at Faber and published in 1954. It became a modern classic selling millions of copies, has been translated into 35 languages and made into a film by Peter Brook in 1963. Golding wrote eleven other novels, a play and two essay collections. He won the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage in 1980 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983. He was knighted in 1988 and died in 1993. www.william-golding.co.uk
Aimée de Jongh is a renowned graphic novelist. Her debut The Return of the Honey Buzzard won the Prix Saint-Michel and was adapted to a live-action film whilst her graphic novel Days of Sand was an international bestseller, and nominated for two Eisner awards. She has been published in eleven languages to date. www.aimeedejongh.com
The world’s first graphic novel of Lord of the Flies — a masterpiece reimagined.