Books
by Margaret Forster
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Diary of an Ordinary Woman |
This is a true story but it contains a secret life. It has been made into a novel by Forster and although I often find diaries hard to get through this is very easy to read. I really enjoyed this book. The background is the two world wars.
(Julia Garbett - bwl 20 September 2003) |
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Good Wives?: Mary, Fanny, Jennie and Me, 1845-2001 |
Forster explores four aspects of being a 'good wife', whether the total devotion of Mary, wife of David Livingstone, or the striving for independence by unconventional Fanny, wife of Robert Louis Stevenson. Jennie Lee, Aneurin Bevan's wife, initially adamant that she would never be a 'wife', bowed to convention for the sake of her career. Forster, also determined not to adopt a 'wifely' role, nevertheless succumbed to marriage and children. A good read, I enjoyed it.
(Diane Reeve - bwl 51 May 2009) |
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Good Wives?: Mary, Fanny, Jennie and Me, 1845-2001 |
With a title conjuring up echoes of the sequel to Little Women, Forster - using biographies of the wives of Livingstone, Stevenson and Bevan and her own 40 year's experience of matrimony - raises crucial issues. Posing such questions as: what constitutes a good wife? how have perceptions altered over time? how far should women go in making compromises? does marriage still have a value? her conclusions on the changing nature of a wife's role are both interesting and provocative.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 71 Winter 2014) |
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Hidden Lives |
This memoir spanning three generations is also the story of the author's fruitless search for the secret of her grandmother's illegitimate baby. Based on family stories and archival research, the context solidly in the hard life lower-class women led in Victorian times, this is a touchingly honest analysis written with insight and sympathy, but with refreshingly astringent criticism and with an amazingly optimistic conclusion. Interesting to read about the background of such a well-known writer.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 17 February 2003) |
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Keeping the World Away |
A painting by Gwen John. Several women needing space and time to reflect on their lives are strangely affected by this small, quiet picture depicting the corner of a room. The story, spanning a century up to the present day, cleverly connects these women who each encounter the painting in various locations, and experience a deeper understanding of themselves and the significance of a special space. Melancholic yet uplifting.
(Mary Standing - bwl 35 July 2006) |
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My Life in Houses |
"My house is like a garret, made to my exact measurements, draped around me in the way I live. I never want it to change."* I love this memoir. Forster uses the various houses she has lived in as a measure of her journey through life. From humble beginnings to a more privileged later life she describes these sanctuaries with an honesty and passion but without sentimentality.
*Not sure where the quote came from, I had jotted it down and it seemed appropriate.
Ed Note: Puzzle: Does anyone know who wrote those words? If so, send us an email!
Mystery solved: Typing error, it should read garment not garret and the quote comes from an article in The Spectator
(Mary Standing - bwl 83 Winter 2017) |
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Shadow Baby |
Shadow Baby is well up to Margaret Forster's standard in novels. Evie - born in 1887 in Carlisle - is an undemanding, colourless, downtrodden creature. Shona - born 70 years later - is headstrong, striking and ambitious. The one thing the girls have in common is that they are both illegitimate, abandoned by their mothers for obvious reasons, and, in adulthood, are compelled to search for their natural mothers, with different results. Intriguing, if slightly disturbing feminist bias.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 16 December 2002) |
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The Lady's Maid |
Margaret Forster's wonderful biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning is well-known, but The Lady's Maid is an inseparable adjunct to it. Wilson, Elizabeth's maid, went with her to Italy. Forster gives an in-depth character study of both women and their complicated relationship with one another, describes and contrasts life above and below stairs in Victorian times and, uniquely, offers an analysis of the expatriate state. An incomparable book.
(Kathie Somerwil Ayrton - bwl 16 December 2002) |
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