davidclensy.com

Love him or loathe him, the one thing you can’t do with Jeffrey Archer is ignore him. Bristolians certainly won’t miss him on Saturday, when the original Weston peer launches his new novel in a blaze of nostalgia, with a 1920s-style tea party at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel.

There is a good reason for Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare’s return to the “beloved West Country” of his birth. His latest book, Only Time Will Tell, is set here – both in Bristol and in his childhood home town of Weston-super-Mare. It is the first in an epic series of five novels, following the life of one Harry Clifton, a Bristolian rising from his 1920s rags to the riches of his 21st century dotage.

After the undignified collapse of his political career following his prison sentence for perjury, Archer has enjoyed a late-life creative blossoming – with seven successive novels rocketing to become number one bestsellers in just ten years – a fact he is quick to point out when I catch the 71-year-old on the phone.

But Jeffrey believes this series, The Clifton Chronicles, will be the biggest creative challenge of his career.

“It’s a tremendous mental challenge,” says Jeffrey, who has already written the second in the series. “It all came to me when my old saga Kane and Abel had its 30th anniversary celebrations. There it was, Kane and Abel, on its 91st reprint and I thought, my goodness that was 30 years ago, I would really like to write another saga, set in the West Country, set over a period of 100 years.

“I don’t think, to be honest with you, I had a clue how much I was taking on. But I’ve loved every moment of it so far. It is slightly frightening to start a series like this, without knowing where the story will go by the fifth book. But that’s part of the fun.

“The first two books are done, three to go. It is the biggest challenge of my life, and it’s wonderful that the early crits in the newspapers are saying it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. That’s because I feel more relaxed with where I am and what I’m doing.”

Jeffrey has focused entirely on his writing since his unplanned career break at Belmarsh Prison (among others) – although even during his incarceration he penned his best-selling Prison Diaries. “There was a little bit of a creative flourish (in prison) in the sense that one met a group of people one had never met before, would never meet again, and were interesting from a story point of view,” he says. “Now I can focus on my writing. I don’t miss the politics. Not many people of my age are still in politics. Our generation has gone. This is a much younger generation with Cameron and Clegg – they’re 25 years younger than I am. Norman Tebbit rings me up and grumbles about what’s happening in the world, but we don’t have any power any longer. Margaret Thatcher has a little go at me from time to time too. But we’re dead. We’re husks.”

His experience of life behind bars also shaped his choice of literary subjects – most notably in his recent work Prisoner of Birth.

“Though inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo, the authenticity of the prison scenes could never have had that strength without actually going through the experience myself,” he admits.

But for his latest project his thoughts have drifted back long before the days of his public disgrace; long before his “power years” as deputy chairman of the Conservative party – back to the landscape of his childhood.

“I grew up in Weston-super-Mare, my great grandfather came from Clifton, my grandfather came from Bristol and my mother was educated at Red Maids’, so I know Bristol very well and I have supported Bristol Rovers all my life.

“So yes, writing this novel has been a kind of home-coming. Of course, it’s very autobiographical.

“You’ll find my mother there, you’ll find my wife there, you’ll find me there – fairly thinly disguised, but we’re there. I didn’t mean that to be the case, it just happened. Once I’d set it in the West Country it sort of went in that direction.”

So it’s the old case of writing what you know?

“Of course,” he says. “I was saying to somebody earlier today, who told me he was a stamp collector, that if you wrote a novel stamp collecting would get into it – because you would have something to say and we would know you knew what you were talking about.”

Our region plays a central role throughout the novel, with landmarks such as Bristol Grammar School, the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel and the Floating Harbour all featuring prominently in the novel.

So did Jeffrey draw on his own memories of growing up here?

“Very much,” he says. “I saw Tony Hancock at the Hippodrome in Bristol, God knows what year.

“I saw Peter O’Toole at the Old Vic when I was young. “You know, all these memories came flooding back. I also came back and did a lot of research and received advice from members of the Savage Club, who read the early edition to see if I had made any local mistakes – done any silly things, got street names wrong or anything. I also walked the streets when I amended the whole thing.

“The big launch is on Saturday. We’re not going to do it in London, we’re doing it in Bristol – we’re going along to the hotel in the book – the Bristol Royal Marriott – to celebrate.

“I was so excited when somebody from Destination Bristol rang and said she loved the book but asked, why aren’t we doing anything in Bristol? I said we hadn’t thought of it. She said if Destination Bristol puts something into this, would you make it the full launch of the book. I said – you bet.

“It’s lovely for me to come back. It has been a nostalgic experience for me. To be reminded of those early years in my beloved West Country.

“I still think it’s the best part of the world m’dear,” he adds, feigning an appalling West Country accent. “I used to get down here a lot more when my mother was alive. She lived in Weston-super-Mare for much of her life, and had a home just outside the town towards the end of her days. So I used to come down a lot. I now only get down two or three times a year. But it still feels like home.”