Her books include Polly Put the Kettle On, Mrs Mulvaney, Hannie Richards and All the Days of My Life, with a heroine who suffers the fate of all women who step away from what is expected of them.
She wrote a biography of Vera Brittain, and sequels to Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw, a novel called Miles and Flora, which takes place some time after the original and resurrects one of the main characters.
Bailey reviewed chiefly for The Guardian, was active in the so-called New Wave of science fiction and edited volumes 7–10 of the New Worlds Quarterly series, and was coauthor of The Black Corridor (1969) with Michael Moorcock, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1978.
[2][3] Two of Bailey's science fiction short stories appeared in anthologies edited by Terry Carr.
Bailey had three children, Sophie, Kate and Max, as well as three grandchildren Alex, Tom and Bobby.