A Quiet Life is a novel by English author Beryl Bainbridge published in 1976 by Gerald Duckworth & Co, it 'depicts a dysfunctional family modelled closely on the author's own'.

[1] Set in the 1950s in a seaside village near Southport, the story centres around 17-year-old Alan who appears to be the sanest member of his family.

His sister Madge is only 15 and is involved with a German POW, his bankrupt father Joe is unbalanced and has a blazing temper, and his mother Connie only married him for the money he no longer has and she keeps disappearing every evening.

Alan's parents are considering divorce meanwhile his relationship with his girlfriend isn't always smooth.

The novel is topped and tailed by short chapters set twenty-five years later where Alan meets with Madge following the death of their mother.