Uncovering the Creative Universe of Author Paul Bailey
Esteemed author Paul Bailey, whose life ended last autumn at 87, was celebrated for his comic brilliance, deep empathy even for his deeply imperfect creations, and an intelligence that was never clinical. His novels repeatedly investigated the power of memory within personal journeys, propelled by clever, syncopated conversations. Beyond novels, he also excelled as an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—here is a guide to the books he left behind.
The Ones to Keep You Company
Bailey was a gregarious individual, an excellent talker who adored casual small talk, in the words of a creation. He and friend author Beryl Bainbridge used to view Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This pleasure in gossipy exchanges is evident in his fictional works Trespasses (1970) as well as Peter Smart’s Confessions (1977). Both feature a main male protagonist surrounded by humorous, irritating, exaggerated personalities, usually kin whose impact cannot be avoided. “Who wants to be normal anyway?” asks the mother of Ralph in Trespasses after he discloses his homosexuality. Similar to spending time with your wittiest, boldest friend.
The Ones to Make You Laugh and Cry
The novelist penned superbly on old age, at both ends of his writing journey. His first book the novel At the Jerusalem (1967) follows the life of Faith Gadny as she adjusts to an old people’s residence, where other occupants supply compassion lacking from staff, whose engagement by asking “Why aren’t you ladies watching the television?”. In the novel before his final the title Chapman’s Odyssey (from 2011), an elderly hospitalized man alternates between arguing with doctors (“I consume only fine wines”, he insists when scolded for liver results) and experiencing a rush of recollections involving his mum, partners, classic characters including Pip by Dickens and Emma by Austen. Both books include comic interactions but marked by impending endings. In Bailey’s fiction, grins are unreliable. In At the Jerusalem, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; Mrs Gadny laughs nervously upon challenge to her conduct. In that novel, Harry advises that “my grins are misleading”. Readers’ smiles, however, are authentic.
If You Want the Facts Behind the Fiction
In addition to fiction, Bailey was a gifted memoirist, publishing two autobiographies. An Immaculate Mistake (published in 1990) is a masterwork of recollection, the heading taken from his mother’s words calling him “our error” and saying he shouldn’t exist. (“She was old now, and letting go of her secrets,” he comments. “This one, she knew, would be of particular interest to me.”) This book reveals the sources of flawed, caring, annoying mothers and fathers in his novels. It likewise portrays an evocative portrait of a homosexual young man in the 1940s–50s, when homosexuality was illegal, and his family found it odd that a son would purchase flowers for his mum; and of a would-be thespian (Bailey acted prior to authoring) who learned Hamlet by age fifteen. His subsequent life story A Dog’s Life (from 2004) focuses on days with his pet Circe, his previous lover David, his fondness for Romania—that influenced subsequent books such as Kitty and Virgil, the title Uncle Rudolf, and The Prince’s Boy—and loads of chatter, with a story regarding Iris Murdoch calling an audience member a “stupid cow”.
If You’re Pressed for Time
Bailey’s novels tend to be short—the impactful Old Soldiers (1980) is just over 100 pages—but for something shorter, try his poetry in his final phase. The two collections the poetry collection Inheritance (2019) and also Joie de Vivre (2022) exhibit his cleverness, sympathy, exactness in brief format. These poems are rich with endings and beginnings. Two romantic motifs repeat: about his parent (“I’m closer to you now – / I need to tell you – / than I ever was in life”) and for his civil partner Jeremy Trevathan. In Amazement, he writes of the joy of enjoying “foolish television” side by side, ending with: “It’s awesome, in its way, this act of eating cheese / and drinking wine, as the world keeps darkening.”
When Choosing Just One
It is widely accepted that Bailey’s most ambitious novel is Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, a role he disliked.) This work the author was most proud of, despite the fact “it drained me. It took everything out of me”. It relates the narrative of Gabriel Harvey, whose mum disappears and whose father turns into an unbearable snob upon receiving money, with possible connections. It acts as a representation of London in the 1900s, an account of psychological collapse, and both comic and tragic as anything Bailey wrote. Additionally, it prompted a sequel, Sugar Cane (from 1993), that he investigated by attending brothels to observe.
