Raymond Radiguet was born near Paris on 18th June 1903. He dropped out of his lycee in order to pursue his interests in journalism and literature, and associated himself with the Modernist set, befriending Picasso, Max Jacob, Jean Hugo, Juan Gris and especially Jean Cocteau, who became his mentor. His first novel, Le Diable au corps, was published in 1923 and became a runaway bestseller in France. Radiguet died of typhoid fever the same year, at the age of twenty. His second novel, Le bal du Comte d'Orgel was published posthumously in 1924. Fay Weldon was born in 1931 and grew up in New Zealand. Her work includes over twenty novels, five collections of short stories, several children's books, non-fiction books, magazine articles, a memoir and a number of plays written for television, radio and the stage.