British · b. 1960
Edward St Aubyn's Patrick Melrose novels—based on his own experience of childhood abuse, heroin addiction, and aristocratic dysfunction—transformed autobiography into darkly comic fiction. "Mother's Milk" was shortlisted for the 2006 Booker Prize. The British author writes about terrible things with such wit and style that readers find themselves laughing at material that should only horrify. Benedict Cumberbatch's television adaptation brought St Aubyn's work to new audiences.