Patrick Gale

Patrick Gale is a British novelist whose warm, intelligent fiction explores family, sexuality, love, and the communities of his adopted Cornwall. Born on the Isle of Wight in 1962, he studied English at Winchester College and New College, Oxford. He has lived on a farm near Land's End in Cornwall since 1988 with his husband. Gale has published over twenty novels, including Notes from an Exhibition, A Perfectly Good Man, A Place Called Winter, Take Nothing With You, and Mother's Boy — a fictional portrait of the early life of the Cornish poet Charles Causley. His fiction is characterised by its emotional generosity, its exploration of queer lives across different eras, and its deep roots in landscape and community. His 1998 novel The Aerodynamics of Pork was an early example of his distinctive blend of comedy and emotional depth. He is also a passionate musician and has written libretti for operas. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His audiobooks and books offer listeners and readers beautifully crafted fiction that celebrates human connection, imperfection, and the quiet courage of living an authentic life.