Paul Bailey introduces Peter Smart, whose self-confessed failings gradually reveal a grotesque portrait gallery of the extraordinary people around him
Gabriel's Lament
Written by Paul Bailey
- Shortlisted
- The Booker Prize 1986
- Published by Jonathan Cape
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Paul Bailey’s novel about shifting family relationships, loss and bereavement is surprisingly sad and remarkably funny in equal measure
Young Gabriel Harvey is happy until his father inherits a lot of money and becomes an appalling snob and his beloved mother, 35 years younger than his father, vanishes. At first, Gabriel believes that he’ll see her again, but he gradually comes to understand that her ‘holiday’ is a complete separation. His subsequent success as a writer does little to ease this pain.
Paul Bailey
Paul Bailey was a novelist who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice, with Peter Smart's Confessions (1977) and Gabriel's Lament (1986)
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