He said, it's rather like your voice. You put up with your voice and speak with it because you haven't any choice. But it's what you say that counts. It's what distinguishes all great art from the other kind.

Nine months and two weeks later Gladys gave birth to John Robert Fowles. With his second wife Sarah by his side Fowles died 5 miles from Lyme Regis in Axminster Hospital on 5 November 2005.

Later fictional works include The Ebony Tower Daniel Martin Mantissa and A Maggot. This was followed by The French Lieutenant's Woman a period romance set in Lyme Regis Dorset another location in which Fowles was deeply absorbed.