Paul Scott

@Bisexual, Birthday and Childhood

Paul Scott was a British novelist who authored the tetralogy, ‘Raj Quartet’

Mar 25, 1920

BisexualBritishWritersNovelistsAries Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: March 25, 1920
  • Died on: March 1, 1978
  • Nationality: British
  • Famous: Bisexual, Writers, Novelists
  • Spouses: Elisabeth Avery
  • Childrens: Carol, Sally
  • Universities:
    • Winchmore Hill Collegiate School

Paul Scott born at

Southgate, London

Unsplash
Birth Place

He married Nancy Edith Avery, who was also known as ‘Penny’, in 1941. He had two daughters with her - Carol and Sally.

Unsplash
Personal Life

He was a bisexual by nature – it was reflected in his first novel of the ‘Raj Quartet’ series, ‘The Jewel in the Crown’.

Unsplash
Personal Life

It is believed that he was an alcoholic and would sometimes get very aggressive with his wife. It was this behavior of his, which eventually led to a divorce.

Unsplash
Personal Life

Paul Mark Scott was born on March 25, 1920 to Frances and Thomas Scott in Southgate, Middlesex. His father was a commercial artist and his mother, though socially inferior, had great artistic ambitions.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

Young Scott studied at Winchmore Hill Collegiate School but he dropped out of the same because his father’s poor financial condition. He worked as an accounts clerk for C.T. Payne and in the evening, attended bookkeeping classes.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

He enlisted to the British Army as a private, in 1940 and was directly assigned to the Intelligence Corps. Thus, began his journey in the army which would later become the subject for a number of his novels.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

Paul Scott published his first collection of poems titled, ‘I, Gerontius’ in 1941, but during this time, he did not take his writing career seriously, since he was already conscripted to the army.

Unsplash
Career

In 1943, he was posted as an officer-cadet to India, where he was commissioned. He ended the war as a Captain in the Indian Army Service Corps. It was during this time that he deeply and irrevocably fell in love with India.

Unsplash
Career

He was employed as an accountant for two small publishing houses ‘Falcon Press’ and ‘Grey Walls Press’, in 1946. Four years later, he moved to the literary agent ‘Pearn, Pollinger & Higham’, where he subsequently became its director.

Unsplash
Career

He published his first novel, ‘Johnny Sahib’, inspired by his experiences at war and in India, in 1952. Despite experiencing several pitfalls while writing the novel, he managed to get it printed and it received moderate success. The same year, he wrote a radio-play for BBC titled, ‘Lines of Communication’.

Unsplash
Career

In 1953, he authored, ‘The Alien Sky’, which was also titled ‘Six Days in Marapore’. It was his second book. Three years later, he published a well-known book titled, ‘A Male Child’.

Unsplash
Career

The ‘Raj Quartet’, a tetralogy was published from 1966-1974. The series consisted of the books, ‘The Jewel in the Crown’, ‘The Day of the Scorpion’, ‘The Towers of Silence’ and ‘A Division of the Spoils’. Largely considered to be his major works, the ‘Raj Quartet’ is regarded as an important masterpiece because of the kind of research that went into writing these novels.

Unsplash
Major Works

From information related to political readers to child rape and the ‘Quit India’ movement, these four novels give a detailed insight into the events leading upto the collapse of the British Raj in India from the viewpoints of Hindus, Muslims and other characters. Of the four books published, ‘The Tower of Silence’ was the most successful one.

Unsplash
Major Works

He authored ‘Staying On’, a finale, in 1977, which is also considered one of his best works. The same was adapted for a television film by Granada TV and paved the way for the television adaptation of ‘The Jewel in the Crown’. This is also considered one of his important works, because it won him the prestigious ‘Booker Prize’.

Unsplash
Major Works