33-415: The Middle Ground is a 1980 novel by British novelist Margaret Drabble . It is her ninth published novel. The novel explores the "crisis of British urban life" through the eyes of a middle aged journalist, Kate Armstrong. Several critics compare the narrative to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway , with critic Roberta Rubenstein calling the novel "essentially plotless" instead exploring human relationships in
66-444: A lady journalist as its central character. Margaret Forster , normally one of her kinder reviewers, called The Middle Ground "not a novel but a sociological treatise". Her eleventh novel, titled A Natural Curiosity , published in 1989, continues the story of characters from her tenth novel, titled The Radiant Way , which was published in 1987. Drabble apologised to her readers in a preface to A Natural Curiosity and said
99-516: A particular time and space. The novel contains long reflections on Kate's past; several critics describe these reflections as similar to Mrs. Dalloway . Kirkus Review ' s describes the same stylistic features, writing that the novel is "Told almost completely in a series of ruminations (Kate's and her friends'), the book has a vulnerable, occasionally fey, but almost consistently charming lurch to it." The novel also has episodes that give homage to Proust . Critic Roberta Rubenstien suggest that
132-651: A sequel had been unintended. Her thirteenth novel The Witch of Exmoor , published in 1996, treats of contemporary Britain. Drabble's fourteenth novel The Peppered Moth , published in 2001, treats of a young girl growing up in a mining town in South Yorkshire and spans four generations of her family. Her fifteenth novel The Seven Sisters , published in 2002, is about a woman whose marriage has collapsed and off she goes to Italy. The Observer referred to part of her sixteenth novel, The Red Queen (published in 2004), as " psychodrabble ", noting her claim in
165-524: A treasure hunt challenge for the younger students to take part in and it often involves many pranks. College-aged pupils traditionally present two events to the school, one at the end of each term, respectively, the College I Pantomime and the Leavers' Play , at which previous head girls are presented with gifts by their successors. The Foundation Meeting (or Speech Day) summarises the year and introduces
198-541: Is always supposed to be". Drabble admitted, years after writing The Millstone : "I didn't realise until many years later that some of the medical details I invented were way off the mark". Drabble's fourth novel, Jerusalem the Golden , was published in 1967. It is also about an English woman who, not unlike Drabble, is from the north of the country and is attending university in London. Her fifth novel, The Waterfall ,
231-578: Is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include The Millstone (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize , and Jerusalem the Golden , which won the 1967 James Tait Black Memorial Prize . She was honoured by the University of Cambridge in 2006, having earlier received awards from numerous redbrick (e.g. Sheffield , Hull , Manchester ,) and plateglass universities (such as Bradford , Keele , East Anglia and York ). She received
264-431: Is finer, prettier and younger, surprisingly young for someone who has produced so many books in the past sixteen years. Her eyes are very clear and attentive and they soften when she is amused, as she often is, by the questions themselves and her own train of thought". In the same interview she admitted there were three writers for whom she felt an "immense admiration": Angus Wilson , Saul Bellow and Doris Lessing . In
297-614: The American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award in 1973. Drabble also wrote biographies of Arnold Bennett and Angus Wilson and edited two editions of The Oxford Companion to English Literature and a book on Thomas Hardy . Drabble was born in Sheffield , the second daughter of the County Court judge and novelist John Frederick Drabble and the teacher Kathleen Marie ( née Bloor). Her elder sister
330-764: The National Book League (now Booktrust ) from 1980 until 1982. Drabble was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in Elizabeth II 's 1980 Birthday Honours , and was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours . The Mount School, York The Mount School is a private Quaker day and boarding school for girls ages 3–18, located in York, England . The school
363-468: The aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq , Drabble wrote of the anticipated wave of anti-Americanism , saying: "My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux , that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world", despite "remembering
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#1732782330386396-699: The book's preface that she is seeking "universal transcultural human characteristics". Ursula K. Le Guin compared Drabble's seventeenth novel, The Sea Lady (published in 2006), favourably with her earlier book The Needle's Eye . In 2009, Drabble announced she would cease to write fiction, for fear of "repeating herself". The same year, she published her memoir The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws . In addition, two further novels would in fact follow: The Pure Gold Baby (2013), and The Dark Flood Rises (2016). Speaking in Belfast in 2024, Drabble
429-581: The conflict between motherhood and intellectual challenges is being brought into focus, while The Witch of Exmoor , published in 1996, shows the withdrawn existence of an elderly writer. As Hilary Mantel wrote in 1989: "Drabble's heroines have aged with her, becoming solid and sour, more prone to drink and swear; yet with each successive book their earnest, moral nature blossoms". Her characters' tragic faults reflect their political and economic situation. Drabble wrote novels, she claimed in 2011, "to keep myself company". Her first novel, A Summer Bird-Cage ,
462-416: The gardener and TV personality Joe Swift ; the academic Adam Swift ; and Rebecca Swift (d. 2017), who ran The Literary Consultancy . In 1982, Drabble married the writer and biographer Sir Michael Holroyd ; they live in London and Somerset . Drabble's relationship with her sister A. S. Byatt was sometimes strained because of autobiographical elements in both their writing. While their relationship
495-537: The many Americans that I know and respect". She wrote of her distress at images of the war, her objections to Jack Straw about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and "American imperialism, American infantilism, and American triumphalism about victories it didn't even win". She recalled George Orwell 's words in Nineteen Eighty-Four about "the intoxication of power" and "the thrill of victory,
528-573: The move of the school to its current premises, The Mount, in 1856. In 1866, Lydia Rous returned from her work with the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War to become the new superintendent, eventually retiring in 1879. From 1890 to 1902, Lucy Harrison was identified as the headmistress of The Mount; Harrison endeavoured to bring many of the conventions of the school in line with contemporary norms at
561-409: The neutral critical prose of the university essay", which she nevertheless admitted she had enjoyed writing. Her second novel The Garrick Year , published in 1964, drew upon her theatrical experience. Her third novel, The Millstone , was published in 1965. About a woman with a baby, Drabble made her character unmarried so as to avoid having to write about marriage or the baby's father. She used
594-518: The new head girl team; awards and scholarships are presented to students from every year group, during this event. In 2012, the school introduced the PeaceJam Ambassadors programme into the school curriculum. The school has "pillars of excellence" in the subject areas of sciences, math, history, music, sports, art, drama and foreign languages. The Mount has yearly activities in orienteering and fencing, netball, hockey and swimming in
627-509: The novel that it is so mercilessly topical." Margaret Forster called the novel "not a novel but a sociological treatise". Kirkus Reviews gave praise for the novel, writing "with each succeeding novel, Drabble appears to edge ever closer to being E. M. Forster's heir: rich works, turned and molded by helpless circumstance, about the apprehensions and redemptions of staying responsible." Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd , DBE , FRSL (born 5 June 1939)
660-415: The personal experience of one of her own children's diagnosis with a lesion (a hole in the heart ) to inform her writing on the illness she gave the child. Indeed, Drabble herself wrote The Millstone whilst pregnant with her own child, that is, her third. On the book's fiftieth anniversary in 2015, Tessa Hadley described it as "the seminal 60s feminist novel that Doris Lessing 's The Golden Notebook
693-400: The publishers of her later works were Penguin , Viking and Canongate , and a recurring theme is the correlation between contemporary England's society and its people. Most of her protagonists are women and the realistic descriptions of her figures often derive from Drabble's personal experiences; thus, her first novels describe the life of young women during the 1960s and 1970s, for whom
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#1732782330386726-517: The sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever". She closed by saying, "I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn't been (so narrowly) elected , we wouldn't be here, and none of this would have happened. There is another America. Long live the other America, and may this one pass away soon". Drabble's early novels were published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1963–87), while
759-472: The time, particularly those surrounding health and wellbeing. This included the development of a gymnasium and the increasing the amount of outdoor space designed to be useable by students. From 1946 to 1966, Margery Willoughby was the head teacher. The Mount School has many long-standing traditions, including a game event called Games in the Dark which takes place on Bonfire Night. Year 11 students arrange
792-471: The title of the novel likely refers to Henry James 's The Middle Years . The novel had mixed reception. The New York Times reviewer Phyllis Rose, described the novel as part of Drabble's chronicling of 20th century British culture, comparing her to Dickens and Balzac, though in doing so it is a "faltering step in her development". However, Rose had mixed feelings about the novel's treatment, describing it as focusing too much on commentary, writing "it hurts
825-427: The winter, rounders, tennis and athletics in the summer. College girls are able to choose the sports, lacrosse and whether or not to use a fitness suite. The school has a team for hockey, netball, tennis, rounders, swimming, athletics and cross country. The Mount is an All Steinway School and holds annual concerts. Extracurricular creative art groups include both Senior and Junior Orchestra, Senior and Junior Choir,
858-670: Was clear that The Dark Flood Rises was her final novel. A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman, a collection of the 14 short stories that Drabble published between 1966 and 2000, appeared in 2011. Drabble's other writing includes several screenplays, plays and short stories, as well as non-fiction such as A Writer's Britain: Landscape and Literature and biographies of Arnold Bennett and Angus Wilson . Her critical works include studies of William Wordsworth and Thomas Hardy . She edited two editions of The Oxford Companion to English Literature in 1985 and 2000. Drabble served as chairman of
891-531: Was employed, Drabble received a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge . She studied English Literature whilst attending Cambridge. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1960, and, before leaving to pursue a career in literary studies and writing, served as an understudy for Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg . Drabble was married to the actor Clive Swift between 1960 and 1975. They had three children,
924-456: Was founded in 1785 by Yorkshire Quaker, Esther Tuke, wife of William Tuke . In 1831, Esther and William's grandson Samuel Tuke , along with William Alexander, Thomas Backhouse and Joseph Rowntree , moved the school to Castlegate House with Hannah Brady registered as the superintendent (1831–42). She was followed by Elizabeth Brady (1842–47), Eliza Stringer (1847–1853), and Rachel Tregelles (1853–1862), who oversaw
957-648: Was founded in 1785, and the current principal is David Griffiths. The Mount School is one of seven Quaker schools in England . In 2020, it became the first girls' school in the North of England to become an All-Steinway School. The school is also a member of the Girls' Schools Association and the Independent Schools Council . The school, under the name Trinity Lane (or York) Quaker Girls' School,
990-450: Was not especially close and they did not read each other's books, Drabble described the situation as "normal sibling rivalry" and Byatt said it had been "terribly overstated by gossip columnists" and that the sisters "always have liked each other on the bottom line." When sought out for interview by The Paris Review ' s Barbara Milton in 1978, Drabble was described as "smaller than one might expect from looking at her photographs. Her face
1023-403: Was published in 1963. She wrote it, she said, because she had just got married and "the children—I had one and was expecting another—and writing was such a convenient career to combine with having a family". With it she found her "informal first-person narrative voice", which she said was an unexpected discovery. She maintained this approach for her first three books, having "liberated myself from
The Middle Ground - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-486: Was published in 1969. It is experimental. Drabble's sixth novel, The Needle's Eye , was published in 1972. It is about an heiress who gives away her inheritance . Her seventh novel The Realms of Gold , published in 1975, has a lady archaeologist as its central character. Her eighth novel The Ice Age , published in 1977, is set in 1970s England and the social and economic conditions of that time. Drabble's ninth novel The Middle Ground , published in 1980, has
1089-457: Was the novelist and critic A. S. Byatt ; the youngest sister is art historian Helen Langdon, and their brother is the barrister Richard Drabble, KC . Drabble's father participated in the placement of Jewish refugees in Sheffield during the 1930s. Her mother was a Shavian and her father a Quaker . After attending The Mount School , a Quaker boarding school at York where her mother
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