Sinking ships, dark humour and really good bad guys: Beryl Bainbridge – ranked!

From the last days of the Titanic to desperate romantics, we rate the work of a British master of black comedy Bainbridge’s novel of the last days on RMS Titanic was acclaimed and popular (“They probably thought it was the book of the film,” she said), and the scenes of the sinking are brilliantly delivered. “There is about me an element of showmanship,” says one character, but Bainbridge’s own showmanship is muffled here by her need to stick with facts, meaning the novel lacks the humour, fl...

By John Self