A Reading Life, A Writing Life, with Sally Bayley

The Other Side of the Fire

For Gabriella Kelly Davies.
‘On the last day of summer Mrs Bohannon fell in love. The poplars, fallaciously pathetic, looked horrified, their branches rising on the wind like startled hair, and a pilgrim cloud wept a few chill tears.’
This week, Sally is once again in the world of Alice Thomas Ellis. Listen for a close reading of the opening of Ellis’ fourth novel, The Other Side of the Fire (1983), focusing on the construction of space, character, and intimacy between writer, narrator, and reader.
The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Thursday’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his work can be found here. 
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

The 27th Kingdom

‘Mrs Mason looked now through Aunt Irene’s rich windows, sparking like spring water and framing fat pink shrubs that grew with child-like health in the tiny London garden.’
This week, we join Sally navigating the world of Alice Thomas Ellis’ absurdist novel, The 27th Kingdom (1982), exploring the parallel lives of its two central women. Listen for a meditation on building character, society, and our means of placing ourselves in the world around us.
More information on Ellis and her work can be found here. 
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

The Green Lady

For Miss Braithwaite, who gave me eloquence.
‘I need to summon the spirits of place…’
This week, we join Sally in rehearsal for a performance, given last week at Somerville College as part of Oxfordshire Mind’s evening of ‘Connections.’ Listen for an invocation of character, both in fiction and of those figures in our own lives that become part of our stories.
Both Gladys and J.M.W. Turner feature in Sally’s recent novel, The Green Lady (William Collins, 2023).
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Being Handy

‘Enid’s hands are always kept busy caring for other people…’
This week, Sally continues her theme of developing characters from objects by presenting a portrait of Enid Bagot, a young woman used to working with her hands, who will feature in Sally’s forthcoming imagined biography, provisionally titled Mrs Parnell. Listen for a reflection on the routines and rhythms of life and work, interspersed with the moments from Sally’s own life that provide her inspiration.
The image of the cat by Edward Lear that Sally refers to can be viewed here.
The wonderful piano music in the opening section is ‘Tuesday’, by Paul Seba. More on Paul and his work can be found here.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Katherine Mansfield

‘His straw hat hurt him, it pinched his forehead and started a dull ache in the two bones just over the temples…’
This week, Sally has been reading and teaching Katherine Mansfield, focusing on characters in her short fiction. Listen for a masterclass on openings, writing characters through objects, and making connections between and through them.
The full text of the stories Sally reads can be found here.
The passage read in the final section comes from Sally’s forthcoming fictional biography, provisionally titled Mrs Parnell.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

A Fragment of May

For Emilie: may you always sing.
We return this week, for a special micro-episode, to Mrs Dalloway’s London. Listen for a brief meditation on the fragmentation of life, interruption, and finding meaning in art.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Mrs Dalloway

‘Now it was time to move, and, as a woman gathers her things together, her cloak, her gloves, her opera-glasses, and gets up to out of the theatre into the street, she rose from the sofa and went to Peter…’
This week, we join Sally reflecting on the arrangement of character. Listen for a journey, via Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) through perspectives, cityscapes, and the means by which we navigate everyday life.
The music accompanying the initial discussion of Mrs Dalloway is ‘Friday’, by Paul Seba. More about Paul and his work can be found here.
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.

Sightlines

‘Sightlines produce a story, an avenue, a walkway, a space to move through…’
This week, we join Sally reflecting on the idea of the sightline, and the stories they structure. Listen for a meditation on narrative, childhood, and a unique perspective of and from The Dreaming Spires…
The text of the Sylvia Plath poem Sally references can be found here. 
This episode was edited and produced by James Bowen.
Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus.