Jeffrey Archer returns to his former school library

Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer has returned to his former school ahead of the publication of his final book.

Archer, who is 86 years old, sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and has often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.

His last book, Adam and Eve, is out soon, and Archer took the opportunity to visit his former school library at Wellington School.

"It's wonderful to come back. What I got a real thrill about when I was walking towards the library is seeing the young boys and girls and thinking, 'that's the next generation'," Archer said.

"The library is really special to me because it brings back so many happy memories," Archer added.

"I was on a scholarship because we had no money, I came from Weston-super-Mare and we had no money. I would never have got in without a scholarship."

Juliet Handley, development officer at Wellington School, said: "He's got so much energy and enthusiasm. It's wonderful to see.

"He was an incredible gymnast; he played our corps of drums. We are one of the only schools in the country that still have a corps of drums. It's lovely to see it's a tradition that lives on."

Handley added that she feels lucky to work with the older Wellington School alumni.

"I constantly hear that the school inspired them to do what they ended up doing, whether it's geography, business or in Jeffrey's case, writing books that sold worldwide," she said.

"To have such a big career, you have to have a passionate desire to do it; you won't keep going otherwise.

"He wrote 18 drafts for this book he's just publishing by hand. You've got to have a love for it."

Archer's last book is a love story about a young couple called Adam and Eve, set against Hitler's dilemma about whether or not to invade Britain.

He said: "I had to write it so smoothly that you believe that these two people changed the history of the world.

"I was born in 1940, so the first five years of my life we were in war. I remember people with one arm, one leg, blind; that was common for me."

When asked why he decided it would be his last book, he said: "I think everybody would like to run their last 100 metres at the Olympics and win the gold medal. I think the clever thing about life is to know when to get out."

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