Books
by Beryl Bainbridge
|
A Quiet Life |
A Lancashire family in the 1940's. Their lives, individuality and limitations are seen through the eyes of the adolescent son in a story told with great economy and never a false note. At the end there is a quietly stunning shift of perspective.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 60 Spring 2011) |
|
|
Every Man for Himself |
Morgan - young, rich, Edwardian - narrates the hopes and plans of the first class passengers during the four days before the 'unsinkable' Titanic ended in ghastly catastrophe. Bainbridge writes flawlessly, in language he would have used, neither too impersonally nor sentimentally - with very well-researched descriptions of the floating hotel with its engine rooms - evoking the emotions and reactions of passengers and crew in ice-bound desolation.
(Joan Jackson - bwl 27 December 2004) |
|
|
The Truth About Queeney |
In 1765 Samuel Johnson falls in love with Mrs Thrale (the wife of his benefactor). By this time he was famous and much revered. He was also observed by 'Queeney' daughter of Thrale as she grew up until Johnson's death in 1784. Written in a style sympathetic to the times and with remarkable economy, it has a convincing authority of touch. I had to read it twice to get the full benefit of this extraordinary book.
(James Baker - bwl 19 June 2003) |
|
|
