Additional information
by Margaret Drabble (Author)
When circumstances compel her to start over late in her life, Candida Wilton moves from a beautiful Georgian house in lovely Suffolk to a two-room, walk-up flat in a run-down building in central London--and begins to pour her soul into a diary. Candida is not exactly destitute. So, is the move perversity, she wonders, a survival test, or is she punishing herself? How will she adjust to this shabby, menacing, but curiously appealing city? What can happen, at her age, to change her life?
In a voice that is pitch-perfect, Candida describes her health club, her social circle, and her attempts at risk-taking in her new life. She begins friendships of sorts with other women-widowed, divorced, never married, women straddled between generations. And then there is a surprise pension-fund windfall . . .
A beautifully rendered story, this is Margaret Drabble at her novelistic best.
Front Jacket
From the celebrated author of The Peppered Moth and The Witch of Exmoor, a splendid novel about starting over late in life
Candida Wilton-a woman recently betrayed, rejected, divorced, and alienated from her three grown daughters-moves from a beautiful Georgian house in lovely Suffolk to a two-room walk-up flat in a run-down building in central London. Candida is not exactly destitute. So is the move perversity, she wonders, a survival test, or is she punishing herself? How will she adjust to this shabby, menacing, but curiously appealing city? What can happen, at her age, to change her life? And yet, as she climbs the dingy communal staircase with her suitcases, she feels both nervous and exhilarated.
There is a relationship with a computer to which she now confides her past and her present. And friendships of sorts with other women - widows, divorced, never married, women straddled between generations. And then Candida's surprise inheritance...
A beautifully rendered story, this is Margaret Drabble at her novelistic best.
Back Jacket
Thoroughly witty and entertaining.-The Washington Post Book World
Recently divorced from her husband and alienated from her three grown daughters, Candida Wilton is seeking a fresh start late in her life. She moves from a beautiful Georgian house in Suffolk to a two-room flat in a run-down building in London and begins to pour her soul into a diary. In pitch-perfect voice, Candida describes her health club, her social circle, and her attempts at taking risks in her new life. Candida is not exactly destitute, so she wonders if the move is some sort of perverse survival test-or is she just punishing herself? How will she adjust to this shabby, menacing, but curiously appealing city? What can happen, at her age, to change her life?
"With humor, compassion and ironic detachment, Margaret Drabble has created a memorable portrait."-Chicago Tribune
"Over the years, Drabble has created an impressive oeuvre. . . . Focusing now on the inconstancies and richness of the aging life, she has again shepherded to the page a fertile muse." -Los Angeles Times
MARGARET DRABBLE's novels include The Peppered Moth, The Witch of Exmoor, The Millstone, and The Ice Age. She is also the editor of The Oxford Companion to English Literature. She lives in London.
