The novelist Paul Bailey, who died in October aged 87, was acclaimed for a humorous talent, profound compassion extending to his deeply imperfect creations, and a sharpness that never felt cold. His fiction repeatedly investigated the influence of recollections within personal journeys, fueled by witty, staccato exchanges. In addition to storytelling, he also excelled as a poet, memoir writer, and additional roles—this serves as a roadmap to the volumes he authored.
The author appeared as a gregarious individual, a master conversationalist fond of casual small talk, in the words of a creation. Together with companion author Beryl Bainbridge often enjoyed the serial drama Coronation Street and discuss it over calls. This pleasure in informal dialogues is evident in his novels the book Trespasses (from 1970) as well as the title Peter Smart’s Confessions (released in 1977). Both feature a leading man besieged by funny, annoying, over-the-top characters, usually kin whose impact cannot be avoided. “Who wants to be normal anyway?” asks the mother of Ralph in Trespasses when he reveals he is gay. Similar to spending time with your most clever, daring companion.
Paul Bailey authored excellently regarding elderly life, at both ends of his writing journey. His initial fiction At the Jerusalem (published in 1967) details the journey of Faith Gadny during her transition to a nursing home, in which other inhabitants provide kindness missing from caregivers, whose concern via queries “Why aren’t you ladies watching the television?”. Within his second-last book the title Chapman’s Odyssey (released in 2011), an elderly hospitalized man moves between arguing with doctors (“I only drink superior wines”, he states 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 are filled with humorous dialogues yet shadowed by the inevitable conclusion. Throughout his novels, laughter is suspect. Within At the Jerusalem, “the matron smiled, shut the smile off quickly”; The character giggles with unease if her actions are questioned. Within Chapman’s Odyssey, Harry warns that “my smiles aren’t what they seem”. Readers’ smiles, however, are authentic.
In addition to fiction, Bailey was a talented life writer, issuing two personal accounts. An Immaculate Mistake (published in 1990) stands as a masterpiece of memory, its name coming from his parent’s remark labeling him an “accident” and questioning his presence. (“Elderly, she disclosed hidden truths,” he notes. “She understood this would captivate me.”) Within these pages appear the origins of misguided, loving, frustrating parents within his fiction. It likewise portrays a beautiful image of a boy discovering his sexuality during the mid-20th century, when same-sex acts were criminal, and his relatives considered it strange if a male child gifted blooms to his parent; and of a would-be thespian (Bailey acted before writing) who could recite Hamlet as a teen. His follow-up autobiography the book A Dog’s Life (published in 2004) concentrates on existence alongside his mixed-breed dog Circe, his ex-partner David, his love for Romania—which motivated future works including Kitty and Virgil, Uncle Rudolf, and The Prince’s Boy—and loads of chatter, featuring an anecdote regarding Iris Murdoch labeling a listener a “stupid cow”.
Bailey’s novels are generally brief—the notable Old Soldiers (published in 1980) is barely 100 pages—but for something shorter, try his poetry from his later career. The pair of volumes Inheritance (published in 2019) and Joie de Vivre (released in 2022) showcase his humor, compassion, accuracy in condensed form. These writings contain endings and beginnings. Two affectionate topics reappear: about his parent (“I feel nearer to you now—/ I must confess—/ than when you lived”) and for his spouse Jeremy Trevathan. Within the poem Amazement, he writes of the pleasure in viewing “a silly TV show” as a couple, ending with: “It’s amazing, somehow, to eat cheese and sip wine while the world darkens.”
There is little debate that Bailey’s most ambitious novel was the novel Gabriel’s Lament, nominated for the Booker in 1986. (He served as a judge for the award in 1982, an experience he despised.) This novel Paul Bailey valued most, although “it exhausted him completely”. It relates the tale of Gabriel Harvey, whose mum disappears while his dad transforms into a intolerable pretentious person upon receiving money, with possible connections. It serves as a portrait of the city in that era, a tale of emotional unraveling, and equally humorous and sorrowful like his other works. For more, it inspired a follow-up, Sugar Cane (from 1993), which the author studied by going to such places to watch.
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