I've always liked Margaret Drabble's work more than that of her (more successful?) sister, A.S. Byatt. This may be just a residual consequence of having "met" her while I was in college. She had been invited to lecture by someone in the English department, and at the time I used to hang out with some of the women in English lit, so we ended up after the lecture having tea and biscuits in Josephine's flat with the eminent speaker, who was totally charming.I think the reason I enjoy her fiction is that she so often writes about the lives of strong, intelligent women. Her protagonists are interesting people, whose problems and issues I tend to understand and identify with. Sometimes they are academics, but she manages to avoid the parochialism that mars much writing about academia, and because of that her work has a broader appeal, IMO.Not sure why, but I like her middle novels the best - her recent novels have not engaged me that much, though she does write well, and interestingly, on relations between people of my generation and our parents. But even those of her novels that I've not enjoyed quite as much have stimulated me to think, and they are always well-written. She remains an author whose new work I am always likely to try.
Hilarious. I think Margaret Drabble must have a lot of fun writing, as i just find her books so enjoyable in a quirky, off-beat sort of way.This one written in 1975 is the story of Frances Wingate, an archaeologist with a major find under her belt, who seems to travel the world on speaking tours and conferences, leaving her 4 children behind to sort of fend for themselves. All very liberated woman stuff, but Frances still is hankering for more. How the author thinks of the odd situations Frances gets into beats me, what a wonderful imagination.Along the way though, she makes some wonderfully wry observations on life and the universe, and maybe that is why I enjoy her books so much.
What do You think about The Realms Of Gold (1988)?
I discovered Margaret Drabble when this book was assigned for a class my last quarter in college. And it was a transformative novel -- it was like pulling back a curtain and flooding a room with sunlight. Even though I'd read novels by women writers throughout my undergrad years, this was a serious, contemporary novel by a woman and featured a complex, distinctive, female protagonist and it ROCKED my world! When I talked to my professors about serious contemporary writers, here's who came up -- John Irving. Saul Bellow. Philip Roth. Norman Mailer. Thank goodness for Anne Mellor, who introduced me to Margaret Drabble, guaranteeing me a lifetime of wonderful reading!
—Shellye M.
It's been a long time since I've read "the Margarets" - Lawrence, Drabble, and Atwood.This one was published in the '70's and shows it a bit. The main character, Frances Wingate, isa well-known archaeologist yet also the mother of four children, divorced, and having a seriousaffair with a married man. This is a character driven book. Drabble has made Frances an intriguing woman, and I enjoyed being inside her head. The plot meanders somewhat but does a good job of taking you through ordinary lives in a way that shows no one's life is just ordinary. As I said, the book is a little dated but still good.
—Linda
