It is 1950 and the Liverpool reporatory theatre company is rehearsing its Christmas production of Peter Pan, a story of childhood innocence and loss. Stella has been taken on as assistant stage manager and quickly becomes obsessed with Meredith, the dissolute director. But it is only when the celebrated O'Hara arrives to take the lead, that a different drama unfolds. In it, he and Stella are bound together in a past that neither dares to interpret.
An Awfully Big Adventure (FA)
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*'Vintage bittersweet Bainbridge' MAIL ON SUNDAY *'Imagine Priestley's THE GOOD COMPANIONS as written by Gogol and you will have some idea of the mixture of waggish humour and sordid pathos in Bainbridge's novel' SUNDAY TIMES *'A subtle schizophrenic insight into adult relationships . Bainbridge's understated prose and obsessive eye for the smallest and most telling of details have never been better employed' TIME OUT
About the Author
Beryl Bainbridge is one of the greatest living novelists. Author of 17 novels, 2 travel books & 5 plays for stage & tv, she has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize 5 times & has won many literary awards including the Whitbread Prize & the Author of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By Mrs. A. C. Whiteley
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Beryl Bainbridge is such a perfectionist that, according to a recent article in Mslexia, she is still trying to formulate the title of her present work in progress. Such consummate professionalism is clearly present in this mind-blowingly good novel.
Set in 1950, An Awfully Big Adventure chronicles the life of troubled Stella Bradshaw, an aspiring young actress making her first hesitant steps onto the professional stage. She rapidly becomes infatuated with Meridith, the company director, and, when he spurns her advances, she turns to O’Hara (stand-in for Hook in their production of Peter Pan), in an effort to make him jealous. This attempt badly misfires, however, as the quite brilliant ending proves (every bit as shocking in its way as that of Sixth Sense) and we are left to reflect on the perils of unrequited love, dark, powerful family secrets, and the crippling effect of war.
That Bainbridge achieves such multilayered depth in such a slim novel is nothing short of remarkable. An Awfully Big Adventure is beautifully crafted, tightly plotted – with absolutely no loose ends. She brings it to its awful denouement with devastating logic. And it is very subtly done: Bainbridge emphatically shows and studiously avoids telling. We are meant to infer her message from the drama of the narrative. She, as with other great novelists, allows the reader time and space to think – hence the exquisitely spare prose. I shall have to stop now, for fear of writing page after page of compliments. Suffice it to say, therefore, that An Awfully Big Adventure is wonderful in every way – character development, style and plot execution are all flawless. Truly, this is the perfect novel.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By bookpike
Format:Paperback
She writes beautifully and sparingly. You are straight into the story no messing about. The book is full of humour, skillfully drawn characters that you grasp within a few sentences but the narrative is always going somewhere. The clues are always there. The trick is not to get carried away and read it too fast. It ought to be savoured.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By J. Sutton
Format:Paperback
It took me a while to get into this book - I found it to be quite slow at first but it builds gradually and gets much better towards the end!
What the author does really well is to convey the feel of the time in which it is set. I really felt as though I was watching the scenes take place in the austere, post-war 1950s - that feeling of drabness but also of change.
Stella is a naïve and somewhat disturbed individual who is on a voyage of self-discovery. She thinks she's in love with Meredith but he is indifferent to her and eventually she forms a relationship with the much older O'Hara. It's difficult to see whether he's taking advantage of Stella or whether it is she who is taking advantage of him.
We don't really know a lot about Stella's past. She lives with her Uncle Vernon and Aunt Lily in a run-down guest house. Although her relationship with them doesn't seem quite `normal', it is clear that they care for her a great deal. Stella's mysterious mother is mentioned only once or twice by Vernon and Lily, and although Stella talks to her by telephone, we never hear what her mother has to say - it's only ever "Mother said the usual things".
The ending of the book is really quite sad. There was a twist that I didn't see coming.
I didn't particularly warm to the characters in this. It's definitely not the most exciting or fast-moving book I've ever read!
What the author does really well is to convey the feel of the time in which it is set. I really felt as though I was watching the scenes take place in the austere, post-war 1950s - that feeling of drabness but also of change.
Stella is a naïve and somewhat disturbed individual who is on a voyage of self-discovery. She thinks she's in love with Meredith but he is indifferent to her and eventually she forms a relationship with the much older O'Hara. It's difficult to see whether he's taking advantage of Stella or whether it is she who is taking advantage of him.
We don't really know a lot about Stella's past. She lives with her Uncle Vernon and Aunt Lily in a run-down guest house. Although her relationship with them doesn't seem quite `normal', it is clear that they care for her a great deal. Stella's mysterious mother is mentioned only once or twice by Vernon and Lily, and although Stella talks to her by telephone, we never hear what her mother has to say - it's only ever "Mother said the usual things".
The ending of the book is really quite sad. There was a twist that I didn't see coming.
I didn't particularly warm to the characters in this. It's definitely not the most exciting or fast-moving book I've ever read!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Youth and Ambition
On the whole a very slow moving story. I found it a very disturbing book and wondered how much of it was due to experiences of the author
Published 3 months ago by Joyce Richmond
5.0 out of 5 stars
Priestley's Good Companions smacked about by Joe Orton
The Good Companions is a lovely, warm, fuzzy, well written book (a favourite of mine) about the trials, tribulations, triumphs and tragedies of a small travelling music hall... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lady Fancifull
3.0 out of 5 stars
A catalystic teenager
At first Stella seems like anormal teenager, embarrassed by the Uncle and Aunt who look after her or hideously self-conscious about such every day acts as tipping taxi drivers and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
4.0 out of 5 stars
A 1950's provincial repertory company through the eyes of a naive...
The company of a 1950's Liverpool repertory company with its huge mix of egoes provides Bainbridge with a perfect vehicle for her brilliant descriptive powers. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Mr. J. Collins
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge
It seemed very dated and slow to start but as it was written in the style of the period then I suppose this was to be expected. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2010 by Fiona McPhee
5.0 out of 5 stars
stella
Set in the threadbare background of a Liverpool theatre shortly after the war, this is an unusual coming of age tale where Stella tries to find her own way in the world. Read more
Published on 9 May 2010 by Mr. W. B. Clews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging but ultimately unconvincing
There are some parts of this book that you cannot help but enjoy: the lack of glamour in the running of a provincial theatre where the cast complain about "the digs" and are... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2008 by Caterkiller
3.0 out of 5 stars
Over-written and often unpleasant
Bainbridge is an impressive writer, but so far from having a spare prose style, she has a tendency to over-write, for example: 'when the taxi, girdled by pigeons, swooshed from the... Read more
Published on 14 July 2006 by Reptile
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