Nina Bawden Biography

I find it difficult to comment on my adult novels. I suppose one could say that the later books, from Just Like a Lady onwards, are social comedies with modern themes and settings; the characters moral beings, hopefully engaged in living. People try so hard and fail so often, sometimes sadly, sometimes comically; I try to show how and why and to be accurate about relationships and motives. I have been called a "cryptomoralist with a mischievous sense of humor," and I like this description: it is certainly part of what I aim to be.

This quotation, from the Christian Science Monitor, though not the most flattering, might be useful:

Nina Bawden is a writer of unusual precision who can depict human foibles with an almost embarrassing accuracy. Yet for all that she centres dead on target, there is always a note of compassion in her stories. The light thrown on her characters, clear though it is, is no harsh spotlight. It is a more diffuse beam that allows one to peer into the shadows and see causes even while it focuses on effects.

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