Jeffrey Archer's 'Only Time Will Tell' novel set to draw Bristol visitors

30/06/2011

Categories: Official press releases

Destination Bristol has partnered with Pan MacMillan, the publisher of Jeffrey Archer’s new five-part family Saga, The Clifton Chronicles, to highlight the historic locations mentioned in the book for Archer fans visiting Bristol.  

Jeffrey Archer fans can log on to www.VisitBristol.co.uk/Time for a glimpse of life during the Interwar period in which the first novel, Only Time Will Tell, is set and then visit many of the exciting locations mentioned in the book. History is a hot topic in Bristol this year with the opening of the city’s new history museum, M Shed on 17 June. Jeffrey Archer’s book launch also shows the city’s more historic side, highlighting areas like the old Bristol Docks and Harbourside, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Palm Court Restaurant, Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel, Colston Hall, Bristol Zoo Gardens, St Mary Redcliffe Church and many more. The official launch of the book was held in the Palm Court at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel in May with an immersive theatre event beforehand for a select number of fans and local residents.

Online, visitors can read about the history that inspired the novel and see some photographs of what it would have been like when the main character, Harry Clifton was growing up in Bristol. The website also offers an interactive map for visitors to scroll through the locations and images. Only Time Will Tell is already a number one bestseller since its publication last month and has been in the Sunday Times bestseller list ever since.

John Hallett, Managing Director at Destination Bristol said, “We understand what a huge fan base Mr Archer has and we hope that many of those visitors will read the book and then be intrigued to Visit Bristol and the exciting, historic locations mentioned in the novel.”

Rebecca Ikin, Marketing Director at Pan Macmillan said: “We wanted to create a high-profile launch event for Only Time Will Tell and the beginning of Jeffrey Archer’s major historical series, The Clifton Chronicles by bringing the Bristol setting and period to life. Visit Bristol’s tour has helped us to deliver this. Hopefully visitors and residents of the city will be as engaged and intrigued to discuss Harry’s Bristol as we all are. We hope that the tour will cement the relationship between Jeffrey Archer’s novel and the city for many years to come. It has been a delight to work with the Visit Bristol team.”

About Only Time Will Tell

Undoubtedly Archer’s most ambitious work in four decades as an international bestselling author, it spans the twentieth century and carries a cast of memorable characters that The Times has already compared to the Forsyte Saga.

The epic tale of Harry Clifton’s life begins in 1919 in the backstreets of Bristol. His father was a war-hero, but it will be another twenty-one tumultuous years before Harry discovers the truth about how his father really died, and whether, in fact, he even was his father. Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who worked in Bristol docks, or is he the first born son of a scion of West Country society, and heir to a shipping line?

Bearing the hallmark tensions of a modern-day classic, Only Time Will Tell takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take his place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler’s Germany.

Only Time Will Tell is available now in hardback. The paperback will be published in September 2011.

To view the online tour and map, log on to www.VisitBristol.co.uk/Time. Visitors can also contact Bristol’s tourist information centre on 0333 3210101 or email ticharbourside@destinationbristol.co.uk for general visitor questions.

 

About Jeffrey Archer:

Jeffrey Archer, whose bestselling novels include Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, Kane and Abel and The Eleventh Commandment, has sold over 250 million books throughout the world. He has never been more popular: his last book, And Thereby Hangs A Tale, a collection of short stories, reached Number One in the hardback fiction charts. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction (fifteen times), short stories (four times) and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). The author is married with two sons, and lives in London and Cambridge.

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