Bainbridge, Beryl (1934– )

English novelist. Her writing has dramatic economy and pace, is acutely observed, and peppered with ironic black humour, and often deals with the tragedy and comedy of human self-delusion. Bainbridge achieved critical acclaim with The Dressmaker (1973), set in wartime England. Birthday Boys (1991), Every Man for Himself (1996), and Master Georgie (1998) are novels of historical realism centring respectively on R F Scott's expedition to the South Pole, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Crimean War. Every Man for Himself won the 1996 Whitbread Novel Award, Master Georgie was shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize, and According to Queeney (2001) made the longlist for the 2001 Booker Prize.

Bainbridge's other works include The Bottle Factory Outing (1974), Injury Time (1977), and An Awfully Big Adventure (1989).

Bainbridge was born in Liverpool. She initially trained as a ballerina, and acted in repertory until 1954. Her first novel, Harriet Said.., a frank story about two schoolgirls, failed to find a publisher until 1972, and was preceded in print by A Weekend with Claude (1967) and Another Part of the World (1968). Among her other works are Sweet William (1974), Young Adolf (1978), The Winter Garden (1980), and Collected Stories (1994).