Burt, Guy 1972-

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Burt, Guy 1972-

PERSONAL:

Born 1972; son of a science teacher and an English teacher; married Chon Tejedor (a professor). Education: Graduated from Balliol College, Oxford. Hobbies and other interests: Cooking.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Oxford, England.

CAREER:

Teacher and writer. Eton College, former instructor. Film and television writer, 1999—. Author of teleplays for series, including, Murder in Mind, 2001, Wire in the Blood, 2005-06, and Afterlife, 2006, and for the television movies Ghostboat, 2006, and Diamond Geezer 2, 2007.

AWARDS, HONORS:

W.H. Smith Young Writers Award.

WRITINGS:

After the Hole (novel), Black Swan (London, England), 1993, published as The Hole, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2001.

Sophie (novel), Black Swan (London, England), 1994, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2003.

The Visitor (teleplay), Channel Four, 1999.

Dandelion Clock (novel), Doubleday (London, England), 1999, published as A Clock without Hands, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2004.

ADAPTATIONS:

The Hole was adapted for film in 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Guy Burt is a novelist who won acclaim with his first publication, After the Hole, which he published in England when he was only twenty years old. Published in the United States as The Hole, the novel features five young characters who conduct a bizarre experiment, locking themselves into an abandoned school cellar for three days. Another student, assigned to release them after the third day, fails to arrive at the appointed hour, and the trapped students soon resort to what Harriet Klausner, in BookBrowser.com, described as "ugly things." Klausner, reviewing the American edition of the work, also called Burt's novel "a strong psychological thriller" and recommended it to "readers who enjoy dark … tales of human failure." King Kaufman, writing in the New York Times Book Review, noted that although the novel falls short of William Golding's classic Lord of the Flies, Burt's work is still "chilling," while a critic in Publishers Weekly deemed the novel "intriguing." Similarly, a Books reviewer called Burt's novel "compulsive and claustrophobic," while Patrick J. Wall, writing in Library Journal, described that same work as "a one-sitting read … perfect for escapist reading." Stephanie Zvirin, writing in Booklist, had further praise for The Hole, terming it "suspenseful, clever, and thought-provoking."

While still a student at Balliol College, Oxford, Burt followed The Hole with a second novel, Sophie, in which a young man holds a female friend captive in an abandoned house. Writing in the London Times, Rachel Kelly described Sophie as "scary" and added that Burt's prose is "tense, moody, and difficult." A Kirkus Reviews critic voiced approval of the novel, calling it "a slim, taut, creepy psychological thriller," and a Publishers Weekly contributor found Sophie an "ingenious tale."

Burt's third novel, A Clock without Hands (originally appearing in England as The Dandelion Clock), tells the story of three English children in Italy who, one summer, find a wounded man in a church. Despite the fact that they think he may be a dangerous terrorist, the children help the wounded man. The secret they share from this summer shapes their lives and their relationships with each other, haunting them long after they grow up. The novel is told in flashback from the point of view of Alex, forty-ish and going through a midlife crisis. His friends from that one idyllic summer were two girls: Jamie and her cousin Anna. Alex, who has become an artist, has an artistic vision in part shaped by this long-ago experience, while Anna has devoted her life to political activism. Both put the early death of Jamie down to accident, but there is the lingering doubt that the terrorist from their youth has kept track of them, a suspicion confirmed when Alex and Anna narrowly escape death in a nightclub bombing. A Kirkus Reviews critic was not impressed with this third novel from Burt, calling A Clock without Hands an "overheated, relentless navel-gazing tragedy of midlife crisis and misspent youth." However, other reviewers found more to enjoy. For example, Molly Connally, writing in School Library Journal, thought the "story is gripping, and its lessons haunting," while a Publishers Weekly writer similarly felt A Clock without Hands was "an intriguing, involving read." Keir Graff, writing in Booklist, also commended Burt's writing: "Alex's lyrical remembrances have an exuberance and physicality that transport the reader."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 2001, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Hole, p. 1977; September 1, 2004, Keir Graff, review of A Clock without Hands, p. 59.

Books, January, 1993, review of After the Hole, p. 19.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2003, review of Sophie, p. 623; September 15, 2004, review of A Clock without Hands, p. 881.

Library Journal, August, 2001, Patrick J. Wall, review of The Hole, p. 158.

New York Times Book Review, December 9, 2001, King Kaufman, "Dear Diary: I'm Locked in a Basement," review of The Hole, p. 33; June 9, 2002, Scott Veale, review of The Hole, p. 32.

Publishers Weekly, August 27, 2001, review of The Hole, p. 48; July 7, 2003, review of Sophie, p. 53; October 11, 2004, review of A Clock without Hands, p. 57.

School Library Journal, January, 2005, Molly Connally, review of A Clock without Hands, p. 158.

Times (London, England), August 18, 1994, Rachel Kelly, "A Student of Menace," p. 13.