Drabble, Margaret, 1939–, English novelist, b. Sheffield, Yorkshire. Drabble's realistic vision of an England split between traditional values and contemporary desires is apparent in such works as The Millstone (1965), The Waterfall (1969), and The Middle Ground (1980), and in her critical studies on Wordsworth (1966) and Arnold Bennett (1974). Increasingly Drabble's focus has moved from society as a whole to the fate of women, as in The Radiant Way (1987), its sequel, A Natural Curiosity (1989), The Gates of Ivory (1991), The Peppered Moth (2001), whose central character is based on her mother, and The Seven Sisters (2002). She also edited the Oxford Companion to English Literature (1985).

Drabble, Margaret

(born June 5, 1939, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Eng.) British novelist. She graduated from the University of Cambridge. Her novels include The Realms of Gold (1975), The Radiant Way (1987), The Gates of Ivory (1991), The Peppered Moth (2000), and The Sea Lady (2007). She has also written literary biographies (like her husband, Michael Holroyd) and other literary studies and has edited the Oxford Companion to English Literature. The writer A.S. Byatt is her sister.