316February 2021 THE WEEKARTSFrancisBaconis“quitepossiblythe
singlemostwrittenaboutartistthat
Britainhasproduced”,saidRachel
Campbell-JohnstoninTheTimes.
Sincehisdeathin 199 2,numerous
biographiesandmemoirshave
appeared,mostfocusedonhisexploitsinthe“sleazydemi-monde
ofSohoinLondon”.Weknowallabouttheall-nightdrinking
sessions,andtheoften-repeatedanecdotes:thetimehebooed
PrincessMargaret’scabaretsinging;thetimeheofferedRonnie
Krayapainting,towhichthegangsterreplied:“Iwouldn’thave
oneofthosef***ingthings.”Lesswell-knownisthecomplex,
elusive,often anguishedcharacter who concealedhimselfbehind
hispublic persona. Intheir“thunking”newbiography,Mark
Stevens and AnnalynSwan“analyse what laybeneaththe mask”.
Theresultisawork that, thoughextremelylong andbased on
“mountains ofresearch”,also achievesarare “senseofintimacy”.
Baconwas borninDublin,in 1909, intoa“semi-grandAnglo-
Irishfamily”,saidChristianHouse intheFT. Hisparentsviewedtheirasthmatic,weedy-voicedsonas
“theruntofthelitter”;Bacon,forhis
part,detestedhisfather.Hisearlyyears
asanartistincludedspellsinBerlinand
Paris,duringwhichhediscoveredthe
Europeanmodernists,andpassedan
“improbableperiodasaninterior
designer,arrangingrugsandcalfskin
pouffes”.TheWarchangedhisfortunes.
Sparedserviceonhealthgrounds,he
spentitpaintinginHampshire.His
picturesfromthistime–of“screaming
popes,tormentedbusinessmenand
crucifixions”–suddenlyhadan“awful
relevance”,andcatapultedhimtofame.
Whilethisbiographyisacompelling
portraitofBacontheartist,itismost
triumphantinitshandlingofhislovelife,saidRachelCookein
TheObserver.Asayoungman,Baconwentfor“semi-paternal,
establishmenttypes”whocouldpayoffhisgamblingdebts.But
fromthe 1950 son,hisboyfriendsbecameevermoredisreputable:
theyincludedPeterLacy,aformerRAFofficerwho“beatand
rapedhim”;apettyburglarnamedGeorgeDyer;and,inTangier,
a“leglessMoroccanwhopushedhimself alongon aboardwith
wheels”.StevensandSwanprovide convincingexplanationsfor
theserelationships,suggestingtheywereexpressions ofataste
for “deformity”thatalsomanifested itself inhisart,said Michael
Prodger inThe SundayTimes. Theirsisaworkthat“bringsthe
carousing,the paintingsand the publicand privatelivestogether
toformaconvincingandoften touchingwhole”.Francis Bacon:
Revelations
by Mark Stevens and
Annalyn Swan
William Collins 880pp £30
The Week Bookshop£23.99 (incl. p&p)Review of reviews: BooksBookoftheweekJulietNicolson’snewbook,an“engagingly
written mixtureofsocialhistoryand
memoir ”,isanaccount ofthe“BigFreeze”
of 1962-3,saidTrevor Phillips inTheSunday
Times.Inwhatremains thecoldestwinter
since 1895 ,Britainwasbuffetedforten
straightweeksbybrutalSiberianwinds,
which“frozethe seafor amileoff Herne
Bay”andcaused 20ft ofsnowto pile uponExmoor. Muchofthe country came
to astandstill,and millions were forcedtogowithoutelectricityandrunning
waterthanks toacombination of powercutsand frozenpipes.Nicolson,nine
at thetime, sat out thecold snap at Sissinghurst Castle,her fa mily’s grandhome
in Kent. Although shewas insulated from the worstmaterialhardships,the
atmosphere felt chilly for other reasons: hergrandmother,Vita Sackville-West,
haddiedthe previousJune, leavingher grandfather,Harold Nicolson, distraught
with grief;and herparents’marriage was starting tounravel.
Nicolsonprovidesanarray of grimdetails, said0.“On Dartmoor,no
fewer than 2,000ponies perished undersnow drift.”InEssex,a“heroically
determined” milkman wasfoun dfrozento deathat th ewheel of hi sfloat.Yet
shealsoadvancesa“striking thesis”,which is thatBritai nemergedfrom the
“frostquake”amoreliberalandenlig htenedsociety.Shecharts cultural shifts,
such as the growing unacceptability of casualracism,andsuggeststhat the
savage winter may have kickstarted the Swinging Sixties. “I don’tquitebuy
Nicolson’s notion thatasingle winter, however harsh,changed everything”:
wouldn’tthe cultura lshiftshave happenedanyway?All the same,Frostquake
offers an “entertaining panorama”of lifeinthe early1960s–and seemsan
especiallysuitablebook to readin “our ownwinterofmassdistress”.Frostquake
by Juliet Nicolson
Chatto&Windus 368pp £18.99
The Week Bookshop£14.99Novel of the weekThe Mermaid of Black Conch
by Monique Roffey
Peepal Tree Press 190pp £9.99
The Week Bookshop£7.99Monique Roffey’s latest novel, which wonthis
year’s Costa Prize,isanentertaining, “shape-
shifting” workthat “drags mermaids into the
modern day”, said Jade Cuttle in The Times.
On afictionalCaribbeanisland,adark-skinned
mermaid namedAycayiaisfished outofthe sea
by agroup ofdrunkenholiday-makers,who
proceedtostringherupside down,“stub
cigarettes on herstomach and tweakher
nipples”. Butaspliff-smokinglocal fisherman
named David comes to her rescue:hecarts her
back to hishouse in awheelbarrow, andthe
pair beginanunlikely romance.
What makesthis “bittersweet”novel re ally
sing is the inclusionof “pin-sharp detail from
therealworld”,saidAnthony Cummins inThe
Observer. Aycayia findsher tail rotting–and so
learns to walk inapairofDavid’s oldAdidas.
Her nostril sbleed “allkindofmolluscs andtiny
crabs”.Inthe end,behind the“magic-realist
shenanigans”, thisisan“archetypal story” of
a“disruptive outsider” inasmall community.
It’s astory that shows,as onecharacterputs it,
that womanhood isa“dangerousbusiness”.©I
AN BERRY/MAGNUM PHOTOS
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