Beryl's Fans (13)

Beryl Bainbridge

Author profile

born

November 21, 1934 in Liverpool, The United Kingdom

died

July 02, 2010

gender

female

About this author

edit data

Bainbridge was born in the port city of Liverpool in north-west England. Her agent, and her entry in Who's Who, gave the date as November 21, 1934, but records show her birth was registered early in 1933. Bainbridge herself sometimes said she struggled to remember her birth date, ever since she lied about her age so she could take a trip to France as a youngster without her parents' knowledge.

The gritty spirit of Bainbridge's home city informed her books, which blended humour, tragedy and the absurd.

'All the books I've written, even the historical ones, came from the place of my birth, the characters based on my parents and relations,' she once said.

She published more than 15 novels, including A Weekend With Claud, The Bottle Factory Outing...more Bainbridge was born in the port city of Liverpool in north-west England. Her agent, and her entry in Who's Who, gave the date as November 21, 1934, but records show her birth was registered early in 1933. Bainbridge herself sometimes said she struggled to remember her birth date, ever since she lied about her age so she could take a trip to France as a youngster without her parents' knowledge.

The gritty spirit of Bainbridge's home city informed her books, which blended humour, tragedy and the absurd.

'All the books I've written, even the historical ones, came from the place of my birth, the characters based on my parents and relations,' she once said.

She published more than 15 novels, including A Weekend With Claud, The Bottle Factory Outing, and Injury Time.'

Several drew directly on Bainbridge's own experiences. Her early career as an actress in provincial theatre provided the setting for the tragicomic An Awfully Big Adventure,' published in 1989 and made into a 1995 movie starring Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.

As time went by, she increasingly turned to historical settings. Every Man for Himself was set aboard the Titanic and Master Georgie in the Crimean War, while According to Queeney looked at 18th-century lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Young Adolf imagined the aspiring artist Hitler in Liverpool before World War I, to comic and disturbing effect.

Bainbridge was a five-time finalist for the Booker Prize, and twice won the Whitbread literary prize.

Robustly outspoken - she was no fan of chick-lit, which she dismissed as 'froth' - Bainbridge was unsentimental about life's hardships.

In her 20s she attempted suicide, an event she later said she was ashamed to remember.

Despite her reputation as an iconoclast, Bainbridge was delighted to be made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. The British government called her death 'a terrible loss'.

At the time of her death Bainbridge was working on 'The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress,' a novel set around the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

She is survived by two daughters and a son. (less)

combine editions
Books by Beryl Bainbridge

Average rating: 3.42 · 2,020 ratings · 293 reviews · 30 distinct works

	Master Georgie 3.35 avg rating — 321 ratings — published 1998 — 15 editions	My rating:
	Every Man for Himself 3.43 avg rating — 262 ratings — published 1996 — 12 editions	My rating:
	The Birthday Boys 3.83 avg rating — 209 ratings — published 1991 — 12 editions	My rating:
	An Awfully Big Adventure 3.47 avg rating — 190 ratings — published 1989 — 15 editions	My rating:
	The Bottle Factory Outing 3.23 avg rating — 198 ratings — published 1975 — 17 editions	My rating:
	According to Queeney 3.31 avg rating — 175 ratings — published 2001 — 13 editions	My rating:
	The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress 2.81 avg rating — 99 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Young Adolf 3.21 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 1978 — 10 editions	My rating:
	The Dressmaker 3.53 avg rating — 68 ratings — published 1974 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Injury Time 3.39 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 1977 — 10 editions	My rating:

More books by Beryl Bainbridge…

Quotes by Beryl Bainbridge

“Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood.”
― Beryl Bainbridge

5 people liked it

“The older one becomes the quicker the present fades into sepia and the past looms up in glorious technicolour”
― Beryl Bainbridge

3 people liked it

Polls

Choose the book for December '10?

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

11 votes 34.4%

Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

4 votes 12.5%

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

4 votes 12.5%

Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris

3 votes 9.4%

Count Karlstein by Philip Pullman

3 votes 9.4%

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson

3 votes 9.4%

Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat by Caroline Alexander

1 vote 3.1%

The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman

1 vote 3.1%

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King - in Russian language by E.T.A. Hoffmann

1 vote 3.1%

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

1 vote 3.1%

The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge

0 votes 0.0%

32 total votes

1 comment

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
UK Book Club: Ideas for December 2010 group read?	19	50	Dec 15, 2010 06:06am
UK Book Club: Zoe's List	20	88	Jan 06, 2011 05:33am
The Seasonal Read...: Winter Challenge 2010-2011 Completed Tasks (do not delete any posts)	2596	666	Feb 28, 2011 09:05pm
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS)	2898	731	May 31, 2011 09:01pm
Around the World ...: Books Set in Antarctica	5	58	Sep 20, 2011 07:25am
Constant Reader: What I'm Reading - September	377	157	Oct 01, 2011 11:08am
Historical Fictio...: Mini-Challenge #3 - September 2011 - REPORT POINTS HERE	267	133	Oct 01, 2011 03:06pm
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2011 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC!	2299	447	Nov 30, 2011 09:05pm

More…

Beryl's Fans (13)

Beryl Bainbridge

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by Beryl Bainbridge

Quotes by Beryl Bainbridge

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

combine editions
Books by Beryl Bainbridge