Blair James

Blair James is a writer and researcher from the UK, currently studying for a PhD. James' debut novel BERNARD AND PAT will be published by Corsair in February 2021.

Praise for BERNARD AND PAT (2021):

'Catherine’s voice is immediate, and unsettling, pulling the reader into her fragmented world. Written in short, titled segments, the childlike narration takes us back to her babysitters, Bernard and Pat, and to life after her father died when she was a small girl, lonely and confused in an adult world. It’s a book you will take in rapid, small mouthfuls; it has a sharp, bitter taste and is sometimes hard to swallow, dealing as it does with awful truths, how nobody told her people could do such terrible things. The adult tone that begins to disrupt the child’s perspective is exceptionally well drawn as the whole picture is revealed, little by little, with growing suspense. Acutely observed, and psychologically on the button. Superb.' Ruth McKee, Irish Times 

'[A] powerful debut [...] James never loses sight of the story, which looks at the confusing and sometimes abusive relationship the narrator Catherine had with her childminders Bernard and Pat. James deftly blends the older Catherine's voice with the naive young Catherine of her memory.' Sunday Times

'[The narrator's] voice is intriguing, at once childlike in tone yet adult in language, underscoring the ongoing influence of the past on her present circumstances. As the fragments piece together, Catherine's story becomes horrifyingly clear. Memory and the tricks it plays are a the centre of this intense piece of writing.' Daily Mail

'[Bernard and Pat] is so terrifyingly immersive and brilliant, it reminded me of Nabokov, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, and Barbara Comyns. [...] An amazing book.' Camilla Grudova, author of The Doll's Alphabet

'Bernard and Pat is devastating, intense and brilliant. [...] There are other books that deal with child abuse and trauma but Bernard and Pat is made exceptional through the manner of its telling. James’s narrative unfolds through a series of vignettes, some several pages in length, others as brief and fleeting as a single line. The timeline is elastic and infinitely fluid, shifting and switching between Catherine’s fragmented memories of her beloved father – indeed she later questions if these are her own memories, or simply anecdotes she has heard so many times they have the feeling of memories – her partially-blanked recollections of Bernard and Pat, her uncertain, jagged present. Our understanding of ‘what happened’ is arrived at gradually, through a process not unlike stacking building blocks, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle: a particular piece may not make sense until we come upon the piece that fits beside it, sometimes many pages later. [...]  The language of Bernard and Pat is what sets this book in its own category and above many others. Catherine’s voice is not a child’s voice, and little Catherine is not a child narrator. Rather, it is the juxtaposition of the hurt, damaged, unadulterated clarity of childhood perceptions with the mature vocabulary of the adult Catherine, someone who reads, concludes, remembers that makes an encounter with Bernard and Pat, more than anything, like reading a collection of poems. [...] Reading Bernard and Pat felt energising, exciting, like a blessing in the way that discovering such a fresh, original and dynamic literary talent always does; at the same time it felt and still feels almost unspeakably painful, like witnessing a terrible accident that can never be put right. [...] The concise nature of this book means you could easily finish it in a single sitting, yet its interior space is so large you will never entirely encompass it, or stop wanting to revisit it. In this also it is like poetry. [...] This is not just truth-telling, this is great writing.' Nina Allan, author of The Dollmaker

'Bernard And Pat is an exquisitely crafted, beautiful little book, which asks startlingly brave questions about how the past invades our present and makes us who we are.' Elanor Dymott, author of Every Contact Leaves a Trace, Silver & Salt and Slack-Tide 

'The novel is told in short, sharp chapters that perfectly echo the concentration span and understanding of a young child, but as the novel progresses and the vocabulary becomes more sophisticated and erudite, it becomes clear to the reader that Catherine is now an adult narrating her story. Catherine has been profoundly affected by [a] trauma, and copes by dissociating her adult self from her experiences by using her childish voice. [...] We are also completely aware of what is happening to Catherine, and Blair drips tension into every page as we wait to see what will happen to Catherine next as we are powerless to do anything other than be a helpless bystander. [...] Is it challenging to read? Absolutely. Yet at the heart of Bernard and Pat and testament to Blair’s writing is our total connection to Catherine. Our understanding of the unthinkable situation she is in, and how totally vulnerable she is makes Catherine’s story absolutely devastating but impossible to ignore. I loved it.' Years of Reading Selfishly (blog)