His life was was sort of a script. And Jeffrey Archer, the British author who died at 86 would have admitted it.
Athelete, MP, political aspirant, comeback artiste, bestselling author convicted perjurer, Archer wife many hats. The arc of his life showed a penchant for reinvention.
He had a phoenix like ability to rise from the ashes. He understood that public life like fiction runs on appetite.
It could be for money, power, recognition and redemption. Archer has a keen instinct for all four.
Even his death carried the theatricality of a final twist. For it arrived on the eve of publication of Adam and Eve, stated to be his last novel.
Archer’s literary life came after a financial setback. A defraud had left him bankrupt.
But Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, followed in succession by A Quiver Full of Arrows, First Among Equals and Kane and Abel together with ,Shall We Tell the President led to a reversal of fortunes.
His books sold over 300 million copies in a career of more than five decades. His works got a lukewarm response from critics.
His ascent through Conservative Party ranks ended in disgrace after a libel case. It was followed by his conviction for perjury and imprisonment.
But prison term turned out to be source material. It was a chapter in another new beginning that brought in more bestsellers.
He had said in an interview ” People who survive are story tellers” In death as in life, Archer put a twist in the tale.
