Gentleman's Relish

by Patrick Gale

A son wreaks revenge through the power of cookery, a lonely wife finds short-lived solace in angling lessons from a prisoner, and an obedience lesson with a puppy leads to the discovery of a murder...

From the delightfully chilling to the humorous and heart-warming, this exhilarating collection of stories illuminates experiences both common and uncommon, and is full of the same wit, tenderness and sharp psychological observation as Patrick Gale's much-loved novels.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Patrick was born on 31 January 1962 on the Isle of Wight, where his father was prison governor at Camp Hill, as his grandfather had been at nearby Parkhurst. He was the youngest of four; one sister, two brothers, spread over ten years. The family moved to London, where his father ran Wandsworth Prison, then to Winchester. At eight Patrick began boarding as a Winchester College Quirister at the cathedral choir school, Pilgrim's. At thirteen he went on to Winchester College. He finished his formal education with an English degree from New College, Oxford in 1983.

He has never had a grown-up job. For three years he lived at a succession of addresses, from a Notting Hill bedsit to a crumbling French chateau. While working on his first novels he eked out his slender income with odd jobs; as a typist, a singing waiter, a designer's secretary, a ghost-writer for an encyclopedia of the musical and, increasingly, as a book reviewer.

His first two novels, The Aerodynamics of Pork and Ease were published by Abacus on the same day in June 1986. The following year he moved to Camelford near the north coast of Cornwall and began a love affair with the county that has fed his work ever since.

He now lives in the far west, on a farm near Land's End with his husband, Aidan Hicks. There they raise beef cattle and grow barley. Patrick is obsessed with the garden they have created in what must be one of England's windiest sites and deeply resents the time his writing makes him spend away from working in it. As well as gardening, he plays both the modern and baroque cello. His chief extravagance in life is opera tickets.

Reviews

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Patrick Gale's best but I'm not a fan of short stories generally. Some good but some relied too much on unlikely or supernatural plot twists. I prefer his more realistic full length tales driven mostly by character.

[zed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was interesting. Easy to read and an odd kind of antidote to the black arm band history that I tend to devour. I am convinced that most of these yarns and the almost rustic writing style would not have been out of place in an English (not British) high school essay writing competition. But the subject matter? Bit more high/low brow shall we say? Almost a challenge to the more conservative in society? I mean the title of the collection and also the last story in the book, Gentleman's Relish. A "a highly seasoned anchovy paste" says the google search but go look at the urban dictionary! I looked that up after finishing and I have to be honest this was all new to naïve little old me. I have to admit though that I did laugh out loud when I considered a few of these stories in hindsight. Clever writer this Patrick Gale and what an imagination. Might read him again one day.
Patrick Gale is indeed an interesting writer.

[Huw Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short story is a much overlooked medium - it has the ability to entertain, inform and educate us in a very succinct and attractive way.

And in this intriguingly titled collection of short stories, Patrick Gayle takes full advantage of the medium - he terrorises, titillates, teaches and teases us in equal measures during the course of 16 very different stories.

He quite openly tells us that this collection has been put together as the result of a series of very diverse commissions over a period of time - which probably explains why there isn't a "dud" story amongst them, and why the timbre and genre of each individual story is quite distinct from all its fellow stories.

There is wickedness and levity liberally splattered throughout the book - even some of the the more supernatural, macabre and tense offerings still have a very dark, mischievous and downright naughty seam running right through them. And there is fruitiness in abundance here as well - more than enough fruit to feed the most voracious of 5 plus a day fruity habits! And that's as close as I intend to get to warning you that some of the content here is pretty explicit!

We have some ghost stories here, some thrillers, some tales that are simply dark and others that are disturbing beyond being just simply dark. But these deeper tales are liberally juxtaposed with comedies, love stories, beautiful homilific tales and as ever, Patrick Gale's superb mastery of the art of describing human relations.

If you've already enjoyed some of his novels - then this collection will just confirm what you already know about Patrick Gale's very sage take on life. If you haven't discovered Patrick Gale as yet though - then here's the perfect excuse to get to know one of our most exciting contemporary authors.

[Malcolm]

A bit of a disappointment after the broad sweeps of his fiction.

It all seemed too compressed, too rushed...having said that I did enjoy the story of the man who cooks a deadly meal for his dad

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple twists make you think. Enjoyed the prose in the stories that excelled

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book of short stories. The twists in some of the stories make them really enjoyable, especially if you have a dark sense of humour.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat patchy, i prefer his novels.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok for short stories

[Dawn With-whippet · Rating 4 out of 5]

literary equivalent of 'inside number 9 '.
dark , twisty tales shot through with macabre humour .
I enjoyed very much .

[Ginsoakedboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

By Patrick's own admission short stories are not a popular medium. That surprises me although I have several friends, including my father, who are avid readers and they don't enjoy short stories. I would have expected them to work very well for today's society with short attention spans and desire for quick, instant fixes. They don't need a huge investment and can be read in short snatches of time without needing to remember what happened before - perfect if you don't have a lot of time to spend reading.

In terms of Gentlemen's Relish, Patrick's second set of short stories after Dangerous Pleasures published 10 years ago, it is a fabulous collection. The short story format gives Patrick the opportunity to explore his dark side and includes wonderful ghost stories and some unsettling tales of the macabre that are, in turns, deliciously wicked and chilling. These are accompanied by heart warming and humorous tales of people and relationships.

It's hard to pick a favourite but Freedom and Gentlemen's Relish were particularly lovely, the latter could easily have been the opening chapter to a fabulous novel but also had a completeness in its own right. Saving Space is the best of the chillers. If you don't usually go for short stories this is a great place to start, something for everyone and Patrick's fans certainly won't be disappointed.

[Haldoor42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories by one of my very favourite British authors. All he writes is wonderful, although I wouldn't claim this as one of my favourites. I like the build-up of a longer story usually, although some of these were brilliant, especially the one about Making Hay which was a completely horrific delight, if that makes sense. Some of them had me thinking, and others just had me wanting more, so while they were good, I only give four stars because others by him have been more to my liking!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

My friend Mo sent me this book for my birthday and I really enjoyed being able to dip in randomly on these short stories. Patrick Gale is one of my favorite authors, but I do find his short stories somewhat darker than his novels. Although that could just be because they are condensed into just a few pages and the shock of the twist in the story seems sharper. Great fun to pick one at random thou and read it over a cup of coffee.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't normally like short stories by my favoured authors (Sophie Hannah, Joanne Harris) I usually pick them up accidentally - and have not liked them enough to actively avoid them now but this was better than most. I never meant to get this book but, again, didn't realise it was short stories so I'm glad it wasn't totally disappointing.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love short stories and this collection is interesting. Particularly liked the first one about the prison, and the one about the woman who bought a caravan. Sounds boring, but it's not! Some of the stories were not too enjoyable, but that's the beauty of short stories - you soon get to the end.

[Denise Strong · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my reading group's choice of book for June 2013. I hated it! I found the stories (except possibly the first one) twisted, macabre, frequently judgemental and occasionally downright offensive. I wouldn't read another book by this author.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it - Patrick Gale writes so well about the things he knows: living within a prison (as a member of a prison governor's family!); life in Cornwall; music; and relationships. Fluent and easy to read, with believable characters.

[Mark Farley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great collection of short fiction. Ideal to have to one side and dip into but I found myself skipping through some of them that didn't immediately grab me and seemed to be going nowhere. The ones that captivated me though were great and I would try one of his novels on the back of this...

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of how enjoyable short stories are, so will now seek out more - any recommendations gratefully received :)

[Angelique · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of short stories that is staying in the library, some weren't so great, but when they were good, they were real good!

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not realise that when I picked this book up it was a collection of short stories, so it was a welcome surprise. More so by the fact I enjoyed it so much.

[Corinne Faulkner]

:-(

[Snoakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of short stories. Many are set in my old stomping ground of West Penwith and Patrick Gale captures the essence of the place and the people perfectly.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favourite Gale book so far, disappointed indeed as I've enjoyed his other novels.

[Jorgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all stories were as strong or compelling, but I liked the collection as a whole. Definitely worth a read.

[Steve Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

just gorge

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and witty stories reminiscent of Roald Dahl

[Peter Devenish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally prefer Patrick Gale's novels than his short stories, as the former allow him to develop his characters and story lines to more meaningful depth and breadth.

[Agnieszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful short stories. Written in such a way that even a topic that doesn't interest me in the slightest, like rounding up cattle to send to slaughter, sounded amazing.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

each short story was a joy

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful collection of stories - really enjoyed them.