This is the extraordinary life story of one of Britain's most celebrated writers, Frederic Raphael. It is a journey from Chicago to Putney, to Charterhouse, on up to Cambridge, and beyond to Hollywood and France, recording experiences that were absorbed in his opulent novels and screenplays. Raphael is the author of over twenty novels, the most celebrated being 'The Glittering Prizes' and its sequels, following the aspirations and changing lives of a group of Cambridge students through to middle age.