Another Part of the Wood is a scorchingly brilliant study of a situation where the characters … state and blurt out much, and experience in their inner misgivings much that is accurate and truthful, but seldom bring frankness to bear on their several circumstances in any way which would help themselves or anyone else….

The difference between the [earlier and later] versions is that one is more explicit than the other, and which it is depends on what you mean by explicit. Version A [the earlier] is the more expansive, informative and explanatory; Version B, with its pruning and paring and suppression of apparently vital material, is perhaps the more truly out-spoken….

In portraying her characters Bainbridge often looks back in horror, but not at what has made them what they are. They themselves are the amateur psychologists….

In the world that Beryl Bainbridge portrays, the trouble is not...