Patrick Gale - Rough Music
Unnerving Novel by the Author of Notes From An Exhibitition
Rough Music is Patrick Gale's most telling autobiographical novel so far and is every bit as good as his others. Filled with love, betrayal and heartbreak.
Prison Life in London
Patrick Gale draws on his personal experience of early life as the son of a prison governor in London. He describes through the the eyes of the child, Julian, that, “He knew that the men in tight uniforms with hats on and truncheons were officers, controlled by Pa – who, like the queen (bee), was so powerful he was never seen – and that the men in baggy blue suits without hats or ties, were prisoners controlled by the officers.”
Julian's mother is as loving and protective as his father is distant. His life in the rambling governor's house as an only child, is "undeniably strange."
Summer Holidays in Cornwall
Although London prison life is the essential background, Rough Music revolves around summer holidays in a seaside resort in Cornwall. The timeless summers away from the structure of home, school and work, create a sense of other worldliness, where anything can happen. And it does, with disturbing drama and shocking revelations.
Rough Music and Notes From An Exhibition
Written in his lively, intelligent style, Patrick Gale skilfully develops rounded characters with the ability to both charm and frustrate the reader. Family dynamics are laid bare and in Rough Music as with Notes From An Exhibition, Patrick Gale explores the complexities of mental health with kindness and understanding. It seems that the workings of the mind hold a particular fascination for him.
In an interview in the British newspaper, The Times (April 4th 2008) Patrick Gale said “If anyone asks what I would do instead of writing, I say that I would train to be a psychotherapist. Psychotherapy is completely fascinated by motivation, what makes us grow into the adults we grow into. I have never had therapy, despite having good reason to go.”
Sexual Morality
Another theme throughout several of his books is that of sexuality. In Rough Music the reader is faced with moral and ethical dilemmas. Whilst possibly sympathising with the characters, were the sexual choices avoidable? How is sexual morality defined and is it more to do with the individual or does society have the right to create and enforce rules?
Patrick Gale's Personal Life
Patrick Gale’s early life as the son of a prison governor could be described as unusual. He has also had more than his fair share of tragedy. When he was 10 years old his mother was very badly injured in a car accident resulting in brain stem injury. She was in hospital for a year. Further sorrow came when his older brother was killed in a car crash. He draws on these emotional experiences to write books that are utterly convincing and compelling. He now lives on a farm in Cornwall with his partner.
Gale, Patrick
Rough Music is published by HarperCollins (2008)
First published in 2000
ISBN 978-0-00-655220-8
Rough Music by Patrick Gale
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Cornwall
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