Even more thrilling was that she had written so much; I had hours of enjoyment ahead of me.
Margaret Drabble is English, went to Cambridge, married an actor, had some children, divorced, remarried, and etcetera. Her half sister is A.S. Byatt, which excited me when I first found out, but proved ultimately disappointing.
The Radiant Way is a part of a trilogy, though one doesn't have to read them all, or read them in order. The second two books are A Natural Curiousity and Gates of Ivory. The Radiant Way remains my favorite, however, with an earlier book -- Realms of Gold -- coming in a close second.
What is it about these English women? Margaret Drabble's first books
are very intimate, small in scope, personal and interesting. Her
later subjects became broader and broader, and more socially and
sociologically informed, and even more interesting. One theory is that
she began reading The Radiant Way
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