Join us in conversation with Adelle Stripe about her wonderfully evocative and stubbornly funny memoir, Base Notes: The Scents of a Life.Told through the prism of vintage perfumes, Base Notes is an unflinching tale of working class womanhood and smalltown life.
We are very excited to welcome Adelle Stripe to Pickering Book Tree this February to chat about her ingenious memoir, Base Notes. Plotting key episodes in her life against the iconic perfumes we have all known over the years, Adelle's book is a relatable coming-of-age story, an ode to unconventional families and a marvellous description of life lived on the cusp of town and countryside. At times elegiac yet also stubbornly funny, Base Notes is a fabulous read that will reawaken your own memories and have you reaching for that perfume bottle you kept hold of for all those years.
Wear your favourite scent, bring your own olfactory reminiscences and come along to hear Adelle chat about the writing of this wonderfully evocative book.
Book Blurb
‘Already your future has been planned out. There is not much choice about what to become in the small town where you live . . .’
A bedroom dreamer with a headful of Warhol, Adelle Stripe’s formative years were ones of daytime drinking and religious fervour, frustrated mothers and reckless daughters, desire, ambition and the pursuit of creativity. Told through a prism of vintage perfumes, and played out in vivid detail with startling clarity and colour, BaseNotes chronicles an unbridled Northern England of the late 20th century already fading from view.
With a keen eye for the absurd, an ear cocked to eavesdropped conversations and a nose that finds perfume wherever it goes, this tragi-comic tale of working-class womanhood is no clichéd story of redemption or escape, but instead a bleakly funny yet unflinching memoir of dead-end jobs, lost weekends, brief encounters and those wild, forgotten characters who slip through the cracks.
Infused with acerbic observations and unexpected poignancy, Base Notes sees Adelle Stripe boldly laying her lived experience on the page, creating literature from a life less ordinary.
An addictive - frequently devastating - memoir of escape, immolation and reinvention, never better than when observing the various traps of working-class womanhood or being labelled 'a strong northern voice'... told with her now trademark restraint, humour and empathy. A brilliant and singular book. — Fergal Kinney
About the Author
Adelle Stripe was born in York, UK, in 1976 and lives in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.
Her writing is rooted in the nonfiction novel form and explores working-class culture, untold histories of Northern England, popular music, and smalltown life.
Adelle's debut novel, Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile, was based on the life and work of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. Described by David Peace as ‘one of the great debut novels of the century,' Black Teeth was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Portico Prize for Literature. It was an Observer book of the year. A new edition is forthcoming on Virago Press.
Her second book, Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure, was shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize. Co-written with lead singer Lias Saoudi, the biography charts the rise, fall and eventual salvage of one of the UK’s most controversial bands. It was a Rough Trade book of the year and a Sunday Times bestseller.
Three of her poetry chapbooks were published by Blackheath Books from 2007-2012. The Humber Star, a poem based on the experiences of her seafaring ancestors in 19th century Hessle Road, was performed live at John Grant's North Atlantic Flux for Hull City of Culture. In 2023, she recorded a New Postscripts audio essay based on J.B. Priestley’s classic wartime broadcasts as part of the BBC's centenary celebrations.
As a journalist, Adelle has contributed to The Quietus, Yorkshire Post, Times Literary Supplement, Record Collector, and New Statesman. She has received writing commissions from the British Film Institute, Manchester Literature Festival, Leeds West Indian Carnival and many more.
Adelle holds a BA, MA and PhD by Research in Modern British History and Creative Writing. As a lecturer, she has tutored at York St. John, Manchester Metropolitan University and Leeds Trinity. She is a Burgess Fellow at the University of Manchester and an editorial board member at British Pop Archive Books.
Base Notes: The Scents of a Life, her forthcoming memoir, is due for publication by White Rabbit / Orion in February 2025.
You can read more about Adelle's work on her website, or follow her on Instagram.
