British Literature originated in the 5th century AD with the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in
Britain. The Anglo-Saxons brought stories with them from their Germanic homes on the European
continent.
Old English literature, or Anglo-Saxon literature, encompasses the surviving literature
written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, from the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic
tribes in England (Jutes and the Angles) around 450, until "soon after the Norman Conquest" in 1066;
that is, c. 1100–50.These works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible
translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others. There are about 400 surviving manuscripts from
the period.Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture and most literary works were written to
be performed.
Epic poems were thus very popular, and some, including Beowulf, have survived to the
present day. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English and has achieved national epic status in
England, despite being set in Scandinavia.Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous: 12 are known
by name from medieval sources, but only four of those are known by their vernacular works with any
certainty: Cædmon, Bede, Alfred the Great, and Cynewulf. Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose
name is known. Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, which probably dates from
the late 7th century.
Chronicles contained a range of historical and literary accounts, and a notable example is
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.The poem Battle of Maldon also deals with history. This is the name given to
a work, of uncertain date, celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed
to prevent a Viking invasion.Classical antiquity was not forgotten in Anglo-Saxon England, and several
Old English poems are adaptations of late classical philosophical texts. The longest is King Alfred's (849–
99) translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy.
The evolution of English literature is a journey of development of a rich array of
remarkable compositions. The fifteenth century is generally described as the ‘barren’ period of English
literature; was dominated by poetry written in prose. There was a gradual transition from the exuberant
gaiety and imaginative freedom of the Renaissance to that of artificial cheer, philosophic melancholy
and Puritan sobriety of the Restoration. Gradually, the precision, symmetry and regularity of the
Augustan school were substituted with the Romanticist belief in power of imagination and emotion,
reflecting the social problems of the complex era.
The twentieth century literature is further characterized by an interest in experimental
techniques and English literature is continually evolving by a creative interchange with other literatures.
The age was a time of great development. With the defeat of Spanish Armada in 1588, the period was
marked by commercial expansion, change in outlook combined with growth of nationalist feelings,
referred to as the Renaissance. It is one of the great ages of English literature, especially in Drama, with
remarkable writers like Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spencer, Jonson and Bacon.
A rich period of English literature, with many of the themes and patterns carried over from
the preceding Elizabethan age. The Jacobean age is marked by a late flowering of Elizabethan writing at
the beginning and by growth of cynicism and realism towards the end. During the Jacobean age, William
Shakespeare wrote his greatest tragedies; Ben Johnson, John Donne, John Fletcher and Francis Bacon
were at the height of their creative powers; and in 1611 the King James Bible was published. Though
rich, the literature of this period was darkly questioning and preoccupied by the problem of evil.
Another feature of the Drama at this time was the development of extravagant courtly
entertainment known as the Masque. Comedy was best represented by the acid satire of Ben Johnson.
There were two poetic streams; the first poetic stream was enriched by the intellectual complexity of
John Donne and the Metaphysical poets and the second was represented by the lucid and graceful verse
of Ben Jonson. In prose, Francis Bacon and Robert Burton were among the writers who displayed
flexibility in style. The monumental prose achievement of the era was the great King James version of
the Bible.
Caroline literature was a decadent carry over from the previous ages. Melancholy
characterized the works of metaphysical poets. Drama was decadent, romanticism was in decline,
classicism was advancing and scientific temper was growing. The period includes the later metaphysical
poets, the early works of Milton, and the ‘Cavalier poets’. The flamboyant cynicism of cavalier poetry
was distinctive enough to be considered as typical of this age. The period was dominated by poets like
Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace and Sir John Suckling.
England at this time was ruled by Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell. The Puritans
banned theatrical performances in 1642, so dramatic writing ceased. Prose however, flourished in the
non fictional writings of Thomas Browne, Jeremy Taylor and Isaac Walton. Milton was involved in writing
political pamphlets in support of the Puritans. Thomas Hobbes published his political and philosophical
study Leviathan in Paris in 1651, and scandalized the exiled royalist court with his ‘atheistic’ notions. The
later metaphysicals like Vaughan and Marvell were the poets of the period.
The forty-year period after the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, is
characterized by the wit and control of Dryden’s poetry and licentiousness of Rochester’s satires. The
theatre flourished after the end of the Puritan’s ban of 1642; Etherege, Congreve, and Dryden
developed the distinctive ‘comedy of manners’ called Restoration comedy. Dryden, Otway and other
playwrights developed the even more distinctive form of tragedy called Heroic drama. Notable writers in
prose were Samuel Butler, the religious writer John Bunyan and the philosopher John Locke.
During the reign of Emperor Augustus, many distinguished Roman writers enjoyed a
period of peace and prosperity which resulted in an astonishingly fertile literary output, notably by
Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. In imitation of the brilliant literary period, English poets and writers of the first
half of the eighteenth century have also been called the AugustansAddison, Steele, Pope, Swift, Dryden,
Goldsmith; all imitated the style and subject matter of this age. Decorum, balance, elegant wit,
patriotism and concern for society are characteristics of the Augustan age. It can be described as the
period of highest purity and refinement in a national literature.
A term used jointly for Restoration and Augustan age; covering the final decades of the
seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century. The ideal of reason dominated
intellectual activity in the arts. Its literature is characterized by balanced judgement, lack of excess,
decorum, restraint and it reflected classical qualities. Among the important English writers of the period
were Dryden, Addison, Johnson, Pope, Swift and Steele.
This is time of the reign of Queen Victoria lasting from 1837 to 1901. These six decades
saw changes in society and outlook, and a huge variety of literary figures. Among the many writers who
flourished during the Victorian reign were the novelists Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Meredith,
Hardy and Samuel Butler; the poets Tennyson, Browning and Arnold, and the most prominent essayists
were Carlyle, Ruskin and Pater.
The world war I lead to vast changes in the fabric of British society. The Edwardian period
was rich in novelists: Conrad, Kipling, Galsworthy, Wells and Henry James. In the theatre Barrie,
Galsworthy and playwrights of the Celtic Renaissance such as Lady Gregory, Synge and Shaw produced
notable material. In poetry; Hard, Keats and Kipling were the chief writers.The First World War is
generally considered to be a catalyst that initiated the modern period in literature. The most typical
‘modernist’ feature of the twentieth century literature is its experimental quality, which is thought to be
a response to the condition of living in a modernised world. Radical-technical innovations took place in
all three of the major genres; in novel, Proust, Kafka, Lawrence, Joyce and Faulkner, all broke away from
the broadly realist nineteenth century tradition; in poetry, Pound, Eliot, Yeats and W.C.Williams, and in
theatre Strindberg, Pirandello, Brecht, and Beckett are all celebrated for their breaking of old forms and
conventions.
This tendency has dominated English literature since 1945, favouring clarity, irony,
scepticism and a no-nonsense tone as evident in works of poets such as Philip Larkin, Donald Davie and
John Wain. There has been an adverse reaction against aesthetic and philosophical radicalism in favour
of reassertion of traditional modes of expression. The power of English Drama in the 1950’s took the
form of ‘kitchen-sink drama’, which deals with working-class life and social conflict.
Some contemporary authors who write similar books to Alex Michaelides include Ruth
Ware, J.P. Delaney, Alice Feeney, Sarah Pinborough, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, Lucy Foley,
Marisha Pessl, Rosamund Jane.
Ruth Warburton, known by the alias Ruth Ware, is a British psychological thriller author.
Her novels include In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs
Westaway, The Turn of the Key, One By One, The It Girl and Zero Days
J.P. Delaney is a pseudonym for a British author who has written fiction under other
names. Delaney is best known for the psychological thriller The Girl Before, which was a New York Times
bestseller and is being adapted into a film by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine
Entertainment.Delaney's other works include Playing Nice, The Perfect Wife, and Believe Me. They are
known for their suspenseful plots, complex characters, and twist endings.
Alice Feeney is a British novelist of the 21st century, writing in
the mystery and thriller genres.Before becoming a published writer, Feeney was a producer and
journalist at the BBC for fifteen or sixteen years. She started there at age and was a producer for
the One O’clock News, and also a reporter and news editor, and producer for arts and entertainment
programmes.
Sarah Pinborough is a British author and Screenwriter. Her first publication was a horror
story entitled Express Delivery’ in 2001. She began writing novels, and six of these were published by
Leisure Books. Moving away from horror, Pinborough then published the trilogy The Dog-Faced
Gods (2010-12).
Gillian Schieber Flynn is an American author, screenwriter, and producer, best known for
her thriller and mystery novels Sharp Objects, Dark Places, and Gone Girl. Her works have been
translated into 40 languages, and by 2016, Gone Girl had sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Paula Hawkins is a British author best known for her top-selling psychological thriller
novel The Girl on the Train, which deals with themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and drug abuse. The
novel was adapted into a film starring Emily Blunt in 2016.
Lucy Foley is a British author of contemporary, historical fiction and mystery novels. Her
novels The Paris Apartment and The Guest List are New York Times best sellers.Foley worked as an
editor at Headline Publishing Group and Hodder & Stoughton before writing full-time.
Marisha Pessl is an American writer known for her novels Special Topics in Calamity
Physics, Night Film, Neverworld Wake, and Darkly.Pessl completed the novel, titled Special Topics in
Calamity Physics, in 2004 and it was published in 2006 by Viking Penguin to "almost universally positive"
reviews, translated into thirty languages, and eventually becoming a New York Times Best Seller
Rosamund Jane is a British writer. She studied literature at Cambridge University. She is
perhaps best known for her novels Sister, Afterwards, The Quality of Silence and Three Hours. Sister sold
over 1.5 million copies worldwide. It has been translated in 30 languages, and it is a best-seller on
the New York Times and Sunday Times lists.
Alex Michaelides was born on 4 September 1977 at the small Mediterranean island of
Cyprus, to an English mother and a Greek-Cypriot father. He learned M.A. in English Literature at Trinity
College,Cambridge University and M.A. in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
He worked for two years at Northgate Clinic Adolescent unit, a mental health unit. His debut novel, The
Silent Patient, was an instant bestseller and spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list. His
second novel, The Maidens, was also a New York Times bestseller.
When he was eleven he was attracted by the selection of Agatha Christie novels,Agatha
Christie made him into a reader and a writer. Film remains a big passion for Alex; even more so than
theatre. He draws as much inspiration from directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Film remains a big
passion for Alex; even more so than theatre. He draws as much inspiration from directors like Alfred
Hitchcock and Billy Wilder as he does from great writers like Tennessee Williams. Wilder as he does from
great writers like Tennessee Williams.
The Silent Patient(2019) Michaelides's first novel, which debuted at #1 on the New York Times
bestseller list.
The Maidens(2021) Michaelides's second novel, which was also a New York Times bestseller .
The Fury(2024) Michaelides's third novel, which takes place on a remote Greek island.
Alex Michaelides has written screenplays for a few movies, including:
The Devil You Know (2013), a film starring Lena Olin, Rosamund Pike, and Jennifer Lawrence.
The Con Is On (2018), a movie starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey, and Sofia Vergara.
Alice (2005),a short film.
The Silent Patient is a 2019 psychological thriller novel written by British–Cypriot author Alex
Michaelides. The successful debut novel was published on 5th February 2019. Upon its release, the book
debuted on The New York Times Best Seller list at No.1. It later won the Goodreads Choice Award 2019
in the Mystery and Thriller category.
