Description
Shortlisted for the 1990 Booker Prize, and with a new introduction by Yiyun Li, a darkly comic novel of class, the long shadow of war, and unrequited first love.
Liverpool, 1950. Sixteen-year-old Stella is hired as assistant stage manager by a repertory theatre company and soon falls into a heady infatuation with the director, Meredith – failing to notice how he shows not only no interest in her, but in any woman. When the celebrated actor O’Hara arrives to take the lead in their production of Peter Pan, it sets in motion a drama offstage of lost innocence, tragedy and miscommunication.
Peopled by a cast of eccentric characters and the air thick with the scent of greasepaint and cigarettes, An Awfully Big Adventure is an evocative and sharp-edged novel for fans of Penelope Fitzgerald, Muriel Spark and Camilla Grudova.
‘Showcases Bainbridge’s incredible ear for dialogue . . . the perfect introduction to her world where a distinct northern grit is blended with a surrealist’s eye for the absurd.’ CRACK Magazine
‘One of Bainbridge’s best books. The close observation and hilarity are underlain by a sense of tragedy as deep as any in fiction.’ The Times
‘Vintage, bittersweet Bainbridge.’ Mail on Sunday
‘A certain menace emanates from a story’s first page and builds almost imperceptibly to its climax in a refined but savage violence.’ Guardian
‘Pinteresque menace and Sparkian malice.’ Michiko Kakutani, New York Times Book Review
‘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
Paperback
Publication: 12 Mar 2026, Daunt Books
ISBN: 9781917092500
Extent: 288 pages
