An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge

 “Life has a nasty habit of repeating itself”

Beryl Bainbridge’s characters are always a little ‘off.’ They function, they have relationships, they may appear normal–but on some level, they are strange. There is always something emotionally different about them, and the protagonist Stella in An Awfully Big Adventure is no exception to this.

Stella Bradshaw lives in 1950s Liverpool with her unimaginative Aunt Lily and disgruntled Uncle Vernon in the boarding house they own. Stella loves “playacting,” and Uncle Vernon imagines that a life on the stage will provide a suitable outlet for Stella’s ‘artistic temperament,’ but unleashing her on a troupe of unsuspecting actors has rather a detrimental effect. She is a precocious 16 year-old, and after it is clear that Stella lacks academic promise, Uncle Vernon decides to pull some strings and gets Stella involved with the local playhouse–it’s that or “behind a counter at Woolsworth.” Soon Stella is employed as a general dogsbody running errands for the actors and actresses in the troupe. They see her as a young, naive, impressionable girl who needs looking after. However, Stella can defend herself very well, and soon she takes a large role in the tragic events that unfold. The actors–a rather worldly bunch–make the mistake of underestimating Stella, and they misconstrue her actions as those of a gauche schoolgirl. In fact, it’s not so much that Stella lacks experience–although this is true, but she also lacks the appropriate emotional responses. Against the backdrop of the troupe’s successful production of “Peter Pan,” –(an ironic deliberate selection) the drama of the personal lives of the troupe unfolds.

An Awfully Big Adventure is beautifully written–a well crafted book–and Bainbridge’s work is consistently excellent. I can also recommend the film version of this book with Hugh Grant playing a delectably corrupt Meredith. Bainbridge has written a impressive number of novels, and deserves recognition as one of the greatest British novelists. Most of her novels have a female protagonist–although that long-established trend has changed in recent years with Master Georgie and The Birthday Boys. Stella is a disturbing character, and one of Bainbridge’s many unforgettable lost souls.

A Quiet Life by Beryl Bainbridge

“A bit of combat does one the world of good.”

When it comes to the creation of darkly perverse characters, few equal the talent of Beryl Bainbridge. She consistently creates characters who appear normal–they function, have relationships, etc., but they are truly pathological. The darkly comic novel, A Quiet Life is a perfect example of Bainbridge’s talent at work. The story is a simple one; the novel begins as Alan waits for his sister, Madge in a cafe to exchange a few personal belongings following the death of their mother. The meeting after a 15 year estrangement disturbs Alan, and he reminisces about events that took place within the family in post WWII England.

Alan lives with his sister, Madge in a cramped, damp house with their parents Connie and Joe. Stalin-obsessed Joe was once a successful businessman, but went bankrupt, and lost the “big house and the maid.” Connie never recovered from the loss–or the decline in her circumstances, and as a result, she resents her husband terribly. She gives herself airs and graces and is desperate to maintain appearances. She disappears night after night, and her husband is convinced she is off having affairs. A continual state of war exists between the parents. The hostilities exist usually as an undercurrent, but battles erupt unpredictably and violently, and usually result in some damage to the house or its contents. Madge reacts by running after one of the German-prisoners-of-war, and Alan is divided between staying home and trying to maintain the peace, and escaping to the local youth club.

This brilliant book shows the inner workings of the dysfunctional family–wars that erupt with a simple word, retaliation delivered promptly and painfully, and two children caught in the middle. The occasions during which the family tries to be ‘normal’ are laced with black humour–the stroll on the beach, the outing to Alan’s school–the family has the format down to the letter, but can’t quite convince anyone–least of all themselves–that everything is normal. Alan little realises that he is a miniature version of his father, but this is reflected in his odd relationship with the cloying and annoying Janet Leyland. I particularly loved the character of Madge–a free spirit who “fancifully” calls the sycamore tree a willow, “pirouetted” in front of relatives while showing off her Sunday dress, and who whacks the local schoolboys with her umbrella. Is there anything quite as awful as an unhappy family? Bainbridge captures the essence of this phenomenon with her skilled prose and sharp characterisations. For Bainbridge fans, this is a ‘must-read.’ If you enjoy novels by William Trevor, you will probably enjoy Bainbridge books too.