By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Just three days before his death, bestselling British author Jeffrey Archer told his readers that he was looking forward to discussing his final novel Adam & Eve at the Cheltenham Festival on October 10. He died on Monday, October 5, at the age of 86, leaving the engagement — and the launch of his final book — to take place without him.
“On Saturday 10th October at 7pm I will be discussing my final novel Adam & Eve at the Cheltenham Festival. I look forward to seeing many of you there,” Archer wrote in his final Facebook post on October 2.
His publisher HarperCollins said Archer died “suddenly and peacefully” at his home, between writing sessions. His death came just a day before Adam & Eve was due to be published.
Archer, one of Britain’s best-known authors, sold more than 300 million books worldwide during a literary career spanning more than five decades. His 1979 novel Kane and Abel became an international bestseller and remains his most famous work.
But Archer’s life was marked by dramatic twists outside literature as well. He was elected a Conservative MP for Louth in 1969 and later became deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. He was made a life peer in 1992.
His political career was eventually derailed by a perjury conviction. Archer was sentenced to four years in prison in 2001 after being found guilty of lying during a 1987 libel case involving allegations about his personal life. He was released early in 2003.
Despite the scandal, Archer rebuilt his career as a hugely successful novelist, producing a string of international bestsellers and continuing to write well into his 80s.
His final novel, Adam & Eve, now goes on sale as Archer’s literary farewell. The author who had expected to be on stage at Cheltenham on October 10 to talk about his latest story will instead be remembered through the book he completed before his death.
The contrast was perhaps unintentionally captured in his final social-media message: he had written that he was “looking forward to seeing many of you there.” He will not be there.