Waugh family fury at 'Brideshead' sequel

Novelist's centenary marred by legal battle over his best-known work

It is a war, or rather Waugh, of words. One of the 20th century's most popular novels, Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, has been subjected to that controversial literary treatment - the sequel - sparking a furious feud between a first-time novelist and the Waugh family and trustees.

Michael Johnston, a businessman and writer of radio documentaries, has just published Brideshead Regained, a follow-up to the story of the doomed aristocratic Catholic family, the Flytes. But in doing so, Mr Johnston has incurred the wrath of the Waugh estate, which threatened him with legal action over the unauthorised sequel.

Now Mr Johnston has had to agree that his work, which follows Waugh's original wistful saga of Sebastian Flyte and his friend Charles Ryder, with an account of Ryder's life as a war artist, will never be sold in bookshops. Instead it can only be sold online and all copies must bear a sticker telling the reader: "This sequel is not authorised by the Waugh estate." This is thought to be a publishing first and coincides with the centenary of Waugh's birth.

Mr Johnston saysBrideshead Revisited, which was made into a successful television series by Granada in 1981, fascinated him for years, prompting him to publish his sequel through his own imprint, Akanos. He approached the Waugh estate and sent a copy of his manuscript to the Waugh family, hoping that they would approve of his novel in which Charles Ryder finds the lost Sebastian.

Instead it sparked outrage. A flurry of letters between lawyers ensued, until the two sides agreed publication could go ahead on the condition that readers were made aware the Waugh estate wanted nothing to do with the enterprise.

"All I am guilty of is falling into the trap of being completely hooked by Brideshead," said Mr Johnston. "But I felt there were a lot of loose ends. What did happen to Charles Ryder? Will he ever be re-united with Julia, the woman who forsook him for God? What about Sebastian? I wanted to write the novel about Charles and the Flytes, whom he loved, as a tribute to Waugh in his centenary year."

Mr Johnston maintains that his novel was well-received by Waugh fans, but he failed to secure a publishing deal because publishers only want to promote young authors.

However, James Gill, of the literary agents Peters Fraser and Dunlop, which acts for the estate of Evelyn Waugh, indicated that the estate was unimpressed with Mr Johnston's efforts to follow in the footsteps of Waugh, considered one of the great stylists of English prose. "This is in no sense an approved or authorised sequel," Mr Gill said. "We do not want anyone to think that there has been any collaboration ... and [there is] a possible issue of infringement of copyright."

Brideshead Revisited was first published in 1945 and is in copyright until 2016 - 50 years after Waugh's death.

Mr Johnston said he was not happy about the outcome but cannot afford to pursue the matter. But he does have one fan: Simon Howard, owner of Castle Howard, the Yorkshire stately home used in the television series starring Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons, as the location for Brideshead.

Mr Howard says Mr Johnston's book would make "wonderful television"; so does Mr Johnston, who has already written an adaptation.

Brideshead Revisited is one of Waugh's most critically acclaimed novels. After early success with his satirical fiction such as Decline and Fall, his work became more sombre following his conversion to Catholicism in 1930, and revealed his disillusion with worldly concerns.

Now there are a series of controversies. The comic actor Stephen Fry has upset Waughfans witha film version of Vile Bodies, which he has calledBright Young Things. He says he also intends to change the ending of the book.

Even more distressing for them is the plan by scriptwriter Andrew Davies to rewrite the plot of Brideshead Revisited for a big film version.

The television version was faithful to the plot, but Davies warns he is writing a "darker, more heterosexual" approach. Instead of Charles Ryder's relationship with Sebastian Flyte, he seeks to concentrate on the doomed affair between Charles and Julia Flyte. He also intends to ignore Charles Ryder's conversion to Catholicism, and to reveal how the faith destroys the relationship. "If God can be said to exist in my version," he said, "he would be the villain."

The culmination of the centenary celebrations will be the Eveyln Waugh Centenary conference at Waugh's alma mater, Hertford College, Oxford. Once asked what he did for his college, Waugh replied, "I drank for it".

Both Mr Johnston and Waugh's grandson, Alexander Waugh, are due to take part.

Sequels and prequels

Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell's 1936 blockbuster was sequelled, to huge success, in 1991. Scarlett was penned by Alexandra Ripley and has sold more than two million copies. Scarlett grows up, Rhett doesn't.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë's novel was prequelled in 1966 by Jean Rhys, whose Wide Sargasso Sea brought the author enormous critical acclaim at the age of 70 after decades in the literary shadows. Here is told the story of the madwoman in the attic, Antoinette, the first Mrs Rochester.

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier's haunting 1938 tale was revisited in 1993, with Susan Hill's Mrs de Winter, and again in 2001 with Sally Beauman's Rebecca's Tale. Beauman fashions a complex past for Rebecca. Both books were critical successes.

Far From the Madding Crowd

Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene were revisited, 20 years on from where Thomas Hardy left them, courtesy of writer Patricia Mann in 1999. Gabriel becomes a proto-social campaigner, Bathsheba starts a women's branch of the union.