Autobiography meaning

English writer (–)

Dame Beryl Margaret BainbridgeDBE (21 November – 2 July )^[1][2] was an English writer. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. She won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in and , and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize.

She was described in as a national treasure.^[3] In , The Times named Bainbridge on their list of the "50 greatest British writers since ".^[4]

Biography

Early life

Beryl Margaret Bainbridge was born in Liverpool's Allerton suburb on 21 November ,^[5] the daughter of Winifred Baines and Richard Bainbridge.

She grew up in the nearby town of Formby. Although she often gave her date of birth as 21 November , she was born in and her birth was registered in the first quarter of ^[6] When German former prisoner of war Harry Arno Franz wrote to her in November , he mentioned her 15th birthday.^[7]

Bainbridge enjoyed writing, and by the age of 10 she was keeping a diary.^[7] She had elocution lessons and, when she was 11, appeared on the Northern Children's Hour radio show, alongside Billie Whitelaw and Judith Chalmers.

She was expelled from Merchant Taylors' Girls' School in Great Crosby when she was caught with a "dirty rhyme" (as she later described it) written by someone else in her gymslip pocket.^[8] She then went on to study at Cone-Ripman School in Tring (now the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts),^[9] where she found she was good at history, English, and art.

The summer she left school, she fell in love with former German prisoner of war Harry Arno Franz who was waiting to be repatriated. For the next six&#;years, the couple corresponded and tried to get permission for him to return to Britain so that they could marry, but permission was denied and the relationship ended in ^[7]

Subsequent years

In the following year (), Bainbridge married artist Austin Davies.

In , she attempted suicide by putting her head in a gas oven.^[3] The two divorced soon after, leaving Bainbridge a single mother of two&#;children. Bainbridge spent her early years working as an actress, and she appeared in one episode of the soap opera Coronation Street playing an anti-nuclear protester. She later had a third child by Alan Sharp, the actress Rudi Davies (born ).^[7] Sharp, a Scotsman, was at the start of his career as novelist and screenwriter; Bainbridge would later let it be thought that he was her second husband; in truth, they never married but the relationship encouraged her on her way to fiction.

To help fill her time, Bainbridge began to write, primarily based on incidents from her childhood. Her first novel, Harriet Said, was rejected by several publishers, one of whom found the central characters "repulsive almost beyond belief".^[10] It was eventually published in , four years after her third novel (Another Part of the Wood).

Her second and third novels were published (/68) and were received well by critics although they failed to earn much money.^[8][11] She wrote and published seven more novels during the s, of which the fifth, Injury Time, was awarded the Whitbread prize for best novel in

In the late s, she wrote a screenplay based on her novel Sweet William.

The resulting film, starring Sam Waterston, was released in ^[12]

From onwards, eight more novels appeared. The novel, An Awfully Big Adventure, was adapted into a film in , starring Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant.

Biography in a sentence Beryl’s mother found a ‘smutty rhyme’ penned by Bainbridge in the girl’s uniform pocket and Beryl was hauled up before the head teacher for misconduct. Labelled a ‘corrupting moral influence’, Beryl left full-time schooling and went to the Arts Educational School at Triny, Hertfordshire. She left at 16 with no qualifications.

In the s, Bainbridge turned to historical fiction. These novels continued to be popular with critics, but this time, were also commercially successful.^[8] Among her historical fiction novels are Every Man for Himself, about the Titanic disaster, for which Bainbridge won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel, and Master Georgie, set during the Crimean War, for which she won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

Her final novel, According to Queeney, is a fictionalized account of the last years of the life of Samuel Johnson as seen through the eyes of Queeney Thrale, eldest daughter of Henry and Hester Thrale. The Observer referred to it as a "highly intelligent, sophisticated and entertaining novel".^[13]

From the s, Bainbridge also served as a theatre critic for the monthly magazine The Oldie.

Her reviews rarely contained negative content, and were usually published after the play had closed.^[8] A collection of reviews were published in the book "Front Row: Evenings at the Theatre".

Beryl bainbridge biography meaning Beryl Margaret Bainbridge was born in Liverpool's Allerton suburb on 21 November , [5] the daughter of Winifred Baines and Richard Bainbridge. She grew up in the nearby town of Formby. Although she often gave her date of birth as 21 November , she was born in and her birth was registered in the first quarter of [ 6 ].

The introduction described her theatrical experience, from winning a talent competition to assistant stage manager in Liverpool to occasional acting roles.

Final years

In , Bainbridge's grandson Charlie Russell began filming a documentary, Beryl's Last Year, about her life. The documentary detailed her upbringing and her attempts to write a novel, Dear Brutus (which later became The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress).

It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on 2 June on BBC Four.

Biography examples: Beryl Bainbridge, English novelist known for her psychologically astute portrayals of lower-middle-class English life. Her books included Harriet Said, The Bottle Factory Outing, Injury Time, Young Adolf, Winter Garden, and According to Queeney. Learn more about Bainbridge’s life and work.

In , Bainbridge donated the short story Goodnight Children, Everywhere to Oxfam's Ox-Tales project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Air" collection. Bainbridge was the patron of the People's Book Prize.

Bainbridge was still working on The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress at the time of her death.

The novel, which was based on a real-life journey Bainbridge made across America in , is about the mystery girl reputed to have been involved in the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The novel, which was published in May by Little, Brown,^[14] was edited for publication by Brendan King, whose biography Beryl Bainbridge: Love by All Sorts of Means was published in September ^[15]

Death

Bainbridge had been a heavy smoker for much of her life.^[16] Her cancer returned and she died on 2 July , aged 77, in a London hospital.^[17] Confusion over her birth year resulted in some reports giving her age at death as ^[18] She is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

Honours and awards

In , Bainbridge was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). In June , she was awarded an honorary degree by the Open University as Doctor of the University.^[19] In , she was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature together with Thom Gunn.

In , the British Library acquired many of Bainbridge's private letters and diaries.^[7]

Following Bainbridge's death in , the Man Booker Prize set up a "Best of Beryl" prize, the nominees being her books that had previously been shortlisted: The Dressmaker, The Bottle Factory Outing, An Awfully Big Adventure, Every Man for Himself, and Master Georgie; by a public vote, Master Georgie was chosen as the winner.^[20] In , Bainbridge was posthumously awarded a special honour by the Booker Prize committee.^[21][22]

Mark Knopfler included a song titled "Beryl" dedicated to her and her posthumous award on his album Tracker.^[23] In , a Blue Plaque was unveiled at the house she resided in while growing up in Formby.^[24]

Bibliography

Novels

Short story collections

Non-fiction

• English Journey, or The Road to Milton Keynes ()
• Forever England: North and South ()
• Something Happened Yesterday ()
• Front Row: Evenings at the Theatre ()

References

External links