I've just had an odd experience. I was going through my bookshelves and found a copy of a Beryl Bainbridge book that I didn't realise I had (Winter Garden) and thought I'd Google her books to find out what this one was about (she's one of my favourite authors). I found a Wiki on her and discovered to my dismay that she died on Friday 2nd July this year - two days ago. 
If you haven't read her books, I'd urge you to do so. They are marvellously comic while at the same time being intensely tragic.
She puts the reader into the story as an observer and allows you to see what the protagonists are blind to - often with hysterical consequences. Her book 'Young Adolf' for example tells the fictionalised story of a 23 year old Hitler going to Liverpool to stay with his half brother Alois and Bridget his Irish wife. This story is actually based on fact - Adolf Hitler did indeed live in Liverpool.
Anyway, Beryl Bainbridge will be sadly missed.
R.I.P. Dame Beryl
If you haven't read her books, I'd urge you to do so. They are marvellously comic while at the same time being intensely tragic.
She puts the reader into the story as an observer and allows you to see what the protagonists are blind to - often with hysterical consequences. Her book 'Young Adolf' for example tells the fictionalised story of a 23 year old Hitler going to Liverpool to stay with his half brother Alois and Bridget his Irish wife. This story is actually based on fact - Adolf Hitler did indeed live in Liverpool.
Anyway, Beryl Bainbridge will be sadly missed.
R.I.P. Dame Beryl
