Lord of the Flies to be released as graphic novel
By Faber Editor, 18 April 2023
Faber is thrilled to announce the first graphic novel adaptation of William Golding’s defining classic, Lord of the Flies, illustrated by acclaimed Dutch artist Aimée de Jongh, for publication in September 2024.
Publishing Director Angus Cargill has commissioned UK, Commonwealth and Translation rights directly with de Jongh and William Golding Limited in a major deal, and Faber will be selling rights at this year’s London Book Fair.
Cargill said:
‘Lord of the Flies is one of the jewels of the Faber fiction list, a timeless and beloved modern classic, and so it was crucial to get someone whose visual aesthetic, skill and imagination could bring something new to the story. A long talked about project in my time at Faber, I’m absolutely thrilled to finally see it come together with the brilliant Aimée De Jongh. We are all so excited about the results, and I think it will quickly come to be seen as a classic work in its own right, to sit alongside, complement and bring new readers to this seminal novel.’
Aimée de Jongh said:
‘No book has had such a profound impact on me as Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s vision of a society where law and the police are absent. As an artist, it was always the visual aspect of the story that intrigued me, and I feel incredibly lucky and honoured to work on this adaptation in close collaboration with Faber and the Golding family. My aim is to treat the work with the respect and admiration I’ve always had for it. Most of all, through the graphic novel format, I hope to introduce new readers to this literary masterpiece, which in all these years has never lost its significance.’
Golding’s daughter, Judy Golding Carver, said:
‘We are delighted. Aimée de Jongh is the ideal visual interpreter: a committed, superbly talented draughtswoman, with a deep understanding of the novel and a determination to convey its special power. Aimee’s developing vision of Lord of the Flies brings to life its island landscapes, both idyllic and violent, with the boys as individuals; it crystallises their emotions and fears. She is the illustrator the novel has been waiting for.’
What are we? Humans? Or Animals?
A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day they explore the dazzling beaches, by night they are haunted by nightmares.
Orphaned by society, they must now forge their own; but it is not long before their innocent games take on a much darker hue.
Aimée de Jongh is an award-winning animator, comics artist and illustrator from the Netherlands. Her animated film Aurora was screened widely in the Netherlands, and Janus, a video installation she created with the L.A. based artist Miljohn Ruperto, was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Return of the Honey Buzzard, her debut graphic novel, won the Prix Saint-Michel and her most recent work, Days of Sand, was a Guardian Best Comic & Graphic Novel of 2022.
First published by Faber in 1954, Lord of the Flies has sold millions of copies worldwide, been translated into forty-four languages and was made into an acclaimed film by Peter Brook in 1963. Fans of the novel include Ian McEwan, Suzanne Collins and Stephen King. It was selected as one of the BBC’s One Hundred Novels that shaped the world.
The world’s first graphic novel of Lord of the Flies — a masterpiece reimagined.
