Edward St Aubyn

Edward St Aubyn studied at Keble College and Westminster School. The recorded working language is English. Residence is recorded at Le Plan du Castellet. Distinctions recorded are Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, Prix Femina étranger and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

• Name — Edward St Aubyn • Born — 1960 • Birthplace — London, England • Notable Works — Patrick Melrose series • Education — Westminster School • Alma Mater — Keble College, Oxford • Occupation — Author, journalist

St Aubyn was born in 1960 in London, the son of Roger Geoffrey St Aubyn (1906–1985), a surgeon, and his second wife, Lorna Mackintosh (1929–2005). On his father's side, he is a great-great-grandson of Sir Edward St Aubyn, 1st Baronet, and a great-nephew of John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan. St Aubyn's father was first married to Sophie Helene Freiin von Puthon, daughter of Baron Heinrich Puthon, long-time president of the Salzburg Festival, whom he divorced in 1957. St Aubyn has two half-sisters from his father's first marriage, and an elder sister, Alexandra. He grew up in London and France, where his family had houses. He has described an unhappy childhood in which he was repeatedly raped by his sexually abusive father from the ages of 5 to 8, with the complicity of his mother. St. Aubyn later said of his father, "He had a small canvas, but he was as destructive as he could be. If he’d been given Cambodia, or China, I’m sure he would have done sterling work". St Aubyn attended Sussex House and then Westminster School. In 1979 he went on to read English at Keble College, Oxford. At the time a heroin addict, he graduated with a pass, the lowest possible class of degree.

Five of St Aubyn's novels, Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother's Milk, and At Last, form The Patrick Melrose Novels, the first four of which were republished in a single volume in 2012, in anticipation of the fifth. They are based on the author's own life; the titular protagonist grows up in a highly dysfunctional upper-class English family, and deals with his father's sexual abuse, the deaths of both parents, alcoholism, heroin addiction and recovery, and marriage and parenthood. The books have been hailed as an exploration of how emotional health can be carved out of childhood trauma. Mother's Milk was made into a feature film released in 2011. The screenplay was written by St Aubyn and director Gerald Fox. It starred Jack Davenport, Adrian Dunbar, Diana Quick, and Margaret Tyzack in her last performance.

In 2018 a five-part television series, Patrick Melrose was broadcast, a joint production of Showtime and Sky Atlantic. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Patrick Melrose (with the young Patrick played by Sebastian Maltz), with each episode based on a different novel in the series. The series premiered on Showtime on 12 May 2018 to favourable reviews.

From 1987 to 1990, St Aubyn was married to the author Nicola Shulman, now Marchioness of Normanby. He has a son by Jane Longman, daughter of publisher Mark Frederick Kerr Longman (1916–1972, head of the Longman Group Ltd) and Lady Elizabeth Mary Longman (née Lambart, 1924–2016). She was the elder daughter of Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, and a bridesmaid and friend of Queen Elizabeth II.

* * * * * * * * * • Double Blind. Harvill Secker. 2021.. • Parallel Lines. Jonathan Cape, 2025..

The authorities additionally record the heading Edward St. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Roger St. Aubyn and Lorna Mackintosh. He married Nicola Shulman.

Edward St Aubyn is recorded as writer and journalist.