I spent most of the '60s, when I was starting to try to write novels, living and working in Greece and Turkey. These are countries where the ancient past is interfused with the daily present, and I remember being struck with wonder at the constant sense of continuity and connection, the reminders that lie in wait for you at every turn.

Sacred Hunger (1992) centres on the Atlantic slave trade that moves from Liverpool to West Africa Florida and the West Indies. It was adapted as a film The Reckoning (2003) starring Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe. – with sufficient subtlety and accuracy.

He publiBarry Unsworthd 17 novels and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.