Description

‘Acutely observed, and psychologically on the button. Superb’ Irish Times
‘A book with a persistent power and writing you won’t be able to get out your head’ Grazia

–

I suppose that these are the horses from which we are thrown.
We see things as we are, not as they are.
How do we best see? With eyes old or new?
How well do we rise after falling?

Catherine is small and everyone else is big. The world has lots of rules which she cannot keep up with, and lots of things happen that just don’t feel right. With Dad gone and Mum at work, Catherine spends her days with Bernard and Pat. These are days that she will never forget but never quite remember, either.

Bernard and Pat is a tour-de-force, a novel deeply aware of the peculiarities of memory and the vulnerability of childhood. Catherine’s voice is unforgettable.

Publisher Review

Bernard & Pat by Manchester-based author Blair James, is the story of an adult Caty, reliving her experiences, in her childhood voice, with her childminders, Bernard and Pat. It's a book with a persistent power and writing you won't be able to get out of your head. The present and past in the book are locked in a kind of battle that seems unshakeable * Grazia * Bernard and Pat is terrifyingly immersive and brilliant, it reminded me of Nabokov, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing and Barbara Comyns -- Camilla Grudova, author of The Doll's Factory 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 Slack-Tide