Edward St Aubyn's Biography

Like fellow Booker shortlisted author, M.J. Hyland, St Aubyn had an appalling childhood at the hands of his father. He was raped by his father until he was eight, when he confronted him.

By 16, Edward St Aubyn was a heroin addict.

Rachel Cooke's article about Edward St Aubyn in The Observer pointed out:

"He began taking drugs while he was there [Westminster School], a habit he continued at Oxford (best friend: Will Self). He turned up for his finals immaculately attired, but with heroin secreted about his person and the empty tube of a Bic biro through which to snort it (no pen with which to scribble, though)."

He struggled to write, and reportedly contemplated suicide, but in the early 1990s Edward St Aubyn published three short novels Never Mind (1992), Bad News (1992) and Some Hope (1994).

The Man Booker Prize shortlisted, Mother's Milk was a follow-up featuring a middle-aged Patrick Melrose.

In this review of Mother's Milk, Melissa Katsoulis wrote:

"St Aubyn is a staggeringly good prose stylist and evidently has a big and open heart."