A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories - by Margaret Drabble & Jose Francisco Fernandez (Paperback)

About the Book

Famed UK novelist Margaret Drabble's complete short stories

Book Synopsis

Margaret Drabble's novels have illuminated the past fifty years, especially the changing lives of women, like no others. Yet her short fiction has its own unique brilliance. Her penetrating evocations of character and place, her wide-ranging curiosity, her sense of irony--all are on display here, in stories that explore marriage, female friendships, the English tourist abroad, love affairs with houses, peace demonstrations, gin and tonics, cultural TV programs, in stories that are perceptive, sharp, and funny. With an introduction by the Spanish academic José Fernández that places the stories in the context of her life and her novels, this collection is a wonderful recapitulation of a masterly career.

From the Back Cover

Perfectly turned works . . . A grand feat, and something to smile about. Elissa Schappell, Vanity Fair
Landmark. Vogue
Margaret Drabble s novels have illuminated the past fifty years, especially the changing lives of women, like no others. Yet her short fiction, never before collected, has its own unique brilliance. In stories that are perceptive, sharp, and funny she explores marriage, female friendships, the tourist abroad, love affairs with houses, peace demonstrations, gin and tonics, and displays penetrating evocations of character and place, wide-ranging curiosity, and a sense of irony. This collection is a wonderful recapitulation of a masterly career.
[These] glimmer with the irony, lyricism, moral vision, and amplitude we associate with Drabble s novels. New York Times Book Review
Woman in her essence: complicated, contradictory, and courageous . . . Magic that will stay with us. San Francisco Chronicle
MARGARET DRABBLE is the author of the novels The Seven Sisters, The Peppered Moth, and The Needle s Eye, among other books. For her contributions to contemporary English literature, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2008.

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Review Quotes

"Smooth, reflective prose... Drabble's fans will savor these bite-sized examples of her humane intelligence."-Kirkus Reviews