A very satisfying novel, one of those books you know will stay with you and makes you immediately look up the author's other works. Can I just say, however, the cover is rubbish! I admire too the skill with which Connolly depicts three very different time periods: uptight Victorian England at the time of the Crimean War, mid 70s Summer haze in a Cornish farmhouse idyll, modern day (upper middle class) England and down-to-earth Australia. Each part has characters to love or loathe. Three captured my heart...no, make that four, three women, one man (boy). A very English book for all the Aussie interlude. Though there are several main characters across the differing parts of the novel they were each well developed. As you might expect with a story based around families, there are members that you warm to more than others. I was particularly fond of Alice, Stephen and Hazel and yet came to dislike Cecilia, Cass and Adam, though for reasons I don’t wish to explain so as to not spoil the story for others. At the root of this family is William Gale, a complicated man, so clearly changed by his experiences. I think he’ll make a really interesting character to discuss. Calkin, Jessamy (21 November 2011). "World of Cressida Connolly, writer". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 18 March 2021.

The scene shifts to 1977 and a farm near Truro, Cornwall, where hormonal tumult is in play. A mild-mannered 17-year-old, Stephen, has arrived from Melbourne to stay with distant cousins. He immediately fancies Cass, but ends up in bed with her sister, Georgie, and amid a hazy atmosphere of dope, dancing and parental disapproval, a long hot summer suddenly boils over. An acid trip wreaks havoc and sends one unfortunate youth into a deadly spiral of psychosis. The final part of the novel springs forward to 2016, when a middle-aged Australian, Hazel, visits family in England she has never met, their remote connection a great-great-grandfather, William Gale. Connolly was the first wife (1982–1983) of The Sunday Times critic and writer A. A. Gill (died 10 December 2016). [3] She married Worcestershire petal farmer Charles Hudson in 1985; the couple have three children, including actress Nell Hudson. [4] [5] Career [ edit ] I found ‘bad relations’ by Cressida Connolly to be a wonderfully written, multi generational historical story set between the Crimean war, 1970’s Cornwall and modern day Australia and England. The story telling is controlled and beautifully paced. It only took me a couple of summer days to read this, a pace that is rare for me. The story took turns that I never expected, which I always like.I found this to be a wonderfully written, multi generational historical story set between the Crimean war, 1970’s Cornwall and modern day Australia and England. The story telling is controlled and beautifully paced. It only took me a couple of summer days to read this, a pace that is rare for me. The story took turns that I never expected, which I always like. In the final section, two Australian women in their middle years visit Cass and Georgie to return a heirloom that brings the events of the Crimean War most satisfyingly to full circle. The ending is indeed a perfect test of virtue, both for the characters and for readers: if you find the resolution completely satisfactory, you are a person of the right kind. Bad Relations belongs to the all-too-rare category of books that we read compulsively to find out how they turn out, and then are still more surprised and delighted by the ending. Despite that uneveness, Connolly’s vivid characterisation, supple prose and striking imagery sweep you along. You feel these characters’ pain and desire, the bitter sting of injustice, the simmering sibling rivalry, the ailing mother “as determined and as futile as a King Canute”. The result is an absorbing and affecting saga that uses one family’s story to anatomise the different stages of grief. The characters in Bad Relations are so brilliantly real, so wonderfully compelling at their best, and at their worst, that I can’t get them out of my head. A wonderful novel’ – Nina Stibbe

The captivating midsection sees Australian art school dropout Stephen Nolan travelling to Cornwall in 1977 to stay with his bohemian English cousins, the Clarkes, descended from his great-great-grandfather William Gale’s second family. Connolly’s flair for evoking place is in full evidence as she conjures a seductive Eden that is abruptly shattered. The shifting dynamics between three teenage girls, the “unpredictable” parents and fragile Stephen – whose mental unravelling Connolly details with sensitivity – are skilfully observed. Haunting and beautiful... In recent British fiction I can think only of Tessa Hadley who rivals Connolly in exacting such intricate, compelling drama from close-knit families... I don't often wish a book were longer, but this one I did' Observer Profound and moving and completely original, with a storyline that is completely satisfying. It'll be one of those novels that stays in my mind forever... it's a work of art' Craig BrownBad Relations is an amazing achievement and one of the most satisfying books you're likely to read this year' The Times This is a powerful novel and one that fans of historical fiction and family dramas will no doubt love. The middle section, set in Cornwall, where Stephen, a 20 y/o Australian is visiting an English family with whom he shares an ancestor who won the Victoria Cross in the Crimean War (so relevant these days), recalled poignant memories. One of the few privileges of old age is to criticise historicals at first hand and I had the great pleasure to spend a good many summers in England in the sixties and seventies, though mostly on a boat rather than a farm. Connelly caught the flavour of the time perfectly. Stephen’s distant cousin Georgie and her BF Helena seem the fulfilment of a young man’s wildest dreams, but other sister Cass and mother Celia are rather off-putting. And the dream visit turns into nightmare. The characters in Bad Relations are so brilliantly real, so wonderfully compelling at their best, and at their worst, that I can't get them out of my head. A wonderful novel' Nina Stibbe I was actually a bit wary of this before I received it - wasn’t sure if I wanted a family epic spanning the generations - I’d already had the behemoth that was Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To paradise’ to do me. But this was much tighter, shorter and more compact, and really nothing like that book. I always trusted the author - it felt like she was in control and I was happy to follow her in whatever direction she took the story. Crimea

She has written, curated and lectured on Ladybird Books, and appeared on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Television, talking about her collection and the artists whose work illustrated the books and whom she befriended. [6] [7] Her introduction of Ladybird artist Harry Wingfield to The New Art Gallery, Walsall, led to an exhibition and to the acquisition of the artist's studio. [8] In the 1970’s, young Australian artist Stephen heads to Cornwall, to spend time with his distant cousins. A dreamy, hedonistic summer comes crashing to a halt, and will bring two families together from across the globe for a dramatic confrontation.The first thing to say is that if you looked at the cover without reading the blurb you might be surprised to discover the first part of the book, making up nearly one third of the story, is set during the Crimean War. Bad Relations by Cressida Connolly is a beautiful and yet devastating piece of historical fiction. It is told in three parts, beginning in the battlefields of the Crimean War, before moving into the 1970s and ending in the recent past. This is a story of fractured family, told across the generations. You could never find out everything, she realised. A family consisted of elders long buried, as well as the living: stories were the bridges that connected the generations. But not everyone had a story...you couldn't always fill in the gaps that made the fabric of a life. Nor could you know the things that really mattered... Initially, we meet William and Alice Gale, as William prepares to return from service in the Crimean War, a decorated veteran whose brother was killed in the trenches. The decisions he makes upon his return home have repercussions which will play out over the next two centuries. I very much enjoyed the way that Connolly told this story. Each part of the book contains its own distinct story, but yet they weave beautifully together as we learn more about the different generations throughout. I really appreciated how Connolly built significant historical events and individuals into her narrative, it’s clear just how much research must have gone into developing her novel.

Her third novel, Bad Relations, was published in 2022. The Times called it "her latest understated masterpiece", "beautiful" and "a ravishing novel"; [14] while Country Life wrote that: "The novels of Cressida Connolly are a wonderful discovery" and "nostalgic, perceptively portrayed and beautifully written." [15] The Observer described it as "haunting and beautiful", concluding: "I don't often wish a book were longer, but this one I did." [16] Published works [ edit ] First of all, this writer is a treat. As the book shifts between the three different timelines, so does her writing. She really does excel in giving the reader so so much context and information as each scene begins all the while keeping us fully engaged. This was a very enjoyable read and the author created very detailed and engaging time periods. I enjoyed the description and factual nuggets of the Crimean War. The author captures the speech pattern of each time period wonderfully and in particular for William and Alice's section very engaging characters.The challenge of a tripartite structure is consistency, and this book’s middle third is by far its strongest. By comparison, the last third, in which Stephen’s sister Hazel visits the Clarkes in 2015, feels prosaic and contrived, as if the author is tying up loose ends. As the daughter of Cyril Connolly, author of Enemies of Promise and editor of Horizon, Cressida Connolly is literally a link with the great age of British literature of the Second World War. Appropriately, she excels at historical fiction. I loved After the Party, which featured the British followers of Sir Oswald Mosley who were interned during wartime. Now we sweep from the 19th-century to the mid 1970s, and conclude in 2015. I was a little put off by publishers’ notice, which made the story sound like a family saga with an ancestral curse. That sort of thing I prefer to leave to Aeschylus. And George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series left me with an awkwardly facetious attitude towards even the most sanguinary episodes of the Imperial wars of the Victorian era. But I simply loved Bad Relations. Lynch, Finola (26 June 1999). "Writing's the family way; The Finola Lynch interview: Cressida Connolly". The Birmingham Post . Retrieved 31 August 2022.