Mountstuart

Born at Mountstuart, Bute, 12 September, 1847; d. at Dumfries House, Ayrshire, 9 October, 1900, was the only child of the second Marquess by his second wife, Lady Sophia Hastings, and succeeded to the family honours when only six months old.

The Third Marquess of Bute: Catholic Convert and Patron 2009

PBS Matthew MacFadyen and Hayley Atwell in 'Any Human Heart' When we first meet him played at university age by Sam Claflin, Mountstuart is at Ox ford in the 1920s, longing to lose his virginity and become a famous novelist.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

Finally, and after a stint as an unwitting agent of Germany's terrorizing far-left Baader-Meinhof gang, Mountstuart winds up his life in comfort in France.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

Boyd has described it as an "emotional, dramatic and rackety journey" through the "long and tumultuous life" of a writer, Logan Mountstuart.

Hayley Atwell: 'The real me is a loner, a nerd and a bit overweight' Kate Kellaway 2010

The pace slows and shows us more once Mountstuart appears in the older personage of Jim Broadbent.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

One assignment sends Mountstuart to the Bahamas in the guise of a naval officer, where he keeps tabs on the islands' governor, the former Edward VIII and now Duke of Windsor.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

Logan Mountstuart was and what his life contained.

William Boyd - An interview with author 2010

But Mountstuart lacks the introspective acuity of Evelyn Waugh's everyman observer, Charles Ryder.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

World War II finds Mountstuart in the service of British intelligence, in which he was recruited by his acquaintance Ian Fleming Tobias Menzies, looking ever so suave and Bond-like.

Where the Time Goes Nancy deWolf Smith 2011

The result is a seamless blurring of fact and fiction – Mountstuart crosses paths with many of the century's most influential cultural and political figures, including Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – but at the core of the book beats a fictional heart.

Any Human Heart: William Boyd on telling the story of the 20th century Elizabeth Day 2010