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Margaret Drabble

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Author

The Resume

    (June 5, 1939- )
    Born in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
    Sister of A.S. Byatt
    Wrote the novels 'A Summer Birdcage' (1963), 'The Garrick Year' (1964), 'The Millstone' (1965), 'Jerusalem the Golden' (1967), 'The Waterfall' (1969), 'The Needle's Eye' (1972), 'The Realms of Gold' (1975), 'The Ice Age' (1977), 'The Middle Ground' (1980), 'The Radiant Way' (1987), 'A Natural Curiosity' (1989), 'The Gates of Ivory' (1991), 'The Witch of Exmoor' (1996), 'The Peppered Moth' (2001), 'The Seven Sisters' (2002), 'The Red Queen' (2004) and 'The Sea Lady' (2006)
    Named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2008)

Why she might be annoying:

    Because of her long-running sibling rivalry with Byatt, they have been called the Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland of literature.
    She was initially pleased when Saul Bellow made a pass at her, 'But then I realized as a feminist I shouldn't have been so amused.'
    She suffers bouts of depression.
    After the US invasion of Iraq (2003), she wrote, 'My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease.'
    She announced she would not write any more novels because she was afraid of repeating herself (2009).

Why she might not be annoying:

    Before beoming a writer, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and was understudy to Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.
    A critic noted, 'She wrote very freshly with a sort of immediacy and clarity which was very engaging.'
    She combats her depression through work, long walks, jigsaw puzzles and 'bouts of inept gardening.'
    Her husband, author Michael Holroyd, said about her and Byatt, 'People think the feud is a lot worse than it really is. They ask when they will bury the hatchet, but the fact is they are both too busy to be wielding any hatchets.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 24 Votes: 70.83% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying