🔗 Share this article Discovering the Written World of Novelist Paul Bailey Paul Bailey, who died in October aged 87, was celebrated for his witty genius, deep empathy including for the worst personalities in his stories, and a cleverness that was never clinical. His fiction frequently delved into the power of memory on human existence, driven by witty, staccato exchanges. Apart from fiction, he also excelled as an autobiographer, verse writer, and other capacities—this is an overview to his enduring literary legacy. Books for Companionship Paul Bailey proved a gregarious individual, a master conversationalist fond of lighthearted gossip, as one character notes. He and friend author Beryl Bainbridge used to view the serial drama Coronation Street and analyze it telephonically. This enjoyment of gossipy exchanges appears within his books the novel Trespasses (published in 1970) and the title Peter Smart’s Confessions (1977). The two present a central male figure encircled by comic, maddening, theatrical individuals, often close relatives whose impact cannot be avoided. “What’s so great about being normal?” Ralph’s mum questions in the book Trespasses upon his coming out. Like an evening with your most clever, daring companion. Works That Evoke Laughter and Tears The novelist penned excellently regarding elderly life, at both ends of his writing journey. His debut novel At the Jerusalem (1967) traces Faith Gadny’s experiences while she adapts to a nursing home, in which other inhabitants offer warmth lacking from staff, whose concern via queries “Why aren’t you ladies watching the television?”. In the novel before his final Chapman’s Odyssey (from 2011), a senior in hospital moves between clashing with physicians (“I only drink superior wines”, he affirms when scolded for liver results) and being flooded by memories of his mother, lovers, literary figures including Pip by Dickens and Emma by Austen. Each volume contain funny exchanges but marked by impending endings. Throughout his novels, laughter is suspect. Within At the Jerusalem, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; Faith Gadny chuckles anxiously if her actions are questioned. Within Chapman’s Odyssey, Harry warns that “my laughter is not genuine”. The audience’s grins, though, are real. To Understand the Truth Beneath the Tales In addition to fiction, Bailey was a skilled autobiographer, releasing two self-written volumes. the memoir An Immaculate Mistake (published in 1990) serves as a classic of recollection, its name coming 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 notes. “She understood this would captivate me.”) This book reveals the origins of flawed, caring, annoying mothers and fathers within his fiction. It also paints a moving picture of a gay youth during the mid-20th century, when homosexuality was illegal, and his kin viewed it as suspicious if a male child gifted blooms to his parent; and of a would-be thespian (Bailey acted prior to authoring) who learned Hamlet by age fifteen. His second memoir A Dog’s Life (published in 2004) focuses on days with his pet Circe, his former partner David, his love for Romania—that influenced future works including Kitty and Virgil, the title Uncle Rudolf, plus The Prince’s Boy—and heaps of rumors, including a tale about Iris Murdoch labeling a listener a “foolish person”. If You’re Pressed for Time Paul Bailey’s books are mostly concise—the notable Old Soldiers (from 1980) is under 100 pages—however, for a more condensed choice, sample his verse in his final phase. The two collections Inheritance (published in 2019) and also Joie de Vivre (2022) showcase his humor, compassion, accuracy in brief format. These poems contain mortality and existence. Two affectionate topics reappear: regarding his mum (“Now I’m closer—/ I have to say—/ than in life”) and for his spouse Jeremy Trevathan. In Amazement, he describes the pleasure in “watching an idiotic TV entertainment” together, concluding with: “It’s amazing, somehow, to eat cheese and sip wine while the world darkens.” If You Only Read One It is widely accepted that Paul Bailey’s boldest work was Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He was a Booker judge in 1982, an experience he despised.) This was the book the author was most proud of, even though “it consumed all his energy”. It follows the narrative of Gabriel Harvey, whose mum disappears and whose father turns into an unbearable snob following a financial windfall, and the events may link. It’s a depiction of 20th-century London, an account of psychological collapse, and as funny and sad like his other works. To continue, it led to a sequel, Sugar Cane (published in 1993), which Bailey researched by visiting brothels as an observer.