Gale was born in 1962 on the Isle of Wight, the youngest of four children.Chris Beck, "Work in Progress", Weekend Australian, 11–12 November 2000, Review, p. 8 His father was the prison governor of HM Prison Camp Hill on the Isle of Wight, and he was brought up in and around prisons. In 1969 the family moved to Winchester and his father became Under-Secretary of State for Prisons.Paul Veitch, Peter Karp, "Exploring love and marriage", Sunday Canberra Times, 6 September 1998, p. 18 In his 2000 novel Rough Music, the lead character is the son of a prison governor.
