Margaret Forster (25 May 1938 – 8 February 2016) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and critic, best known for the 1965 novel ''Georgy Girl'', made into a successful film of the
same name, which inspired a hit song by
The Seekers
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
. Other successes were a 2003 novel, ''
Diary of an Ordinary Woman
''Diary of an Ordinary Woman'' is a novel by Margaret Forster, framed as an "edited" diary of a fictional woman who lives through most of the major events of the 20th century, covering the years 1914 to 1995. So realistic that many readers belie ...
'', biographies of
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...
and
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
, and her memoirs ''Hidden Lives'' and ''Precious Lives''.
Early life and education
Forster was born in the
Raffles council estate in
Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
, England. Her father, Arthur Forster, was a mechanic or factory fitter, her mother, Lilian (née Hind), a housewife who had worked as a clerk or secretary before her marriage.
[
Forster attended Carlisle and County High School for Girls (1949–1956), a grammar school.][ She went on to win an open scholarship to read history at ]Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
, graduating in 1960.[ Her first job was two years (1961–1963) of teaching English at Barnsbury Girls' School in ]Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
, north London. During that time she started to write, but her first draft novel was rejected.[
]
Writing
Novels
Forster's first published novel ''Dames' Delight'', loosely based on her experiences at Oxford, launched her writing career in 1964.[ Her second, published the following year, was a bestseller: ''Georgy Girl'' describes the choices open to a young working-class woman in London in the ]Swinging Sixties
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
. It was adapted as a successful 1966 film starring Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career.
A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...
as Georgy, with Charlotte Rampling
Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model.
She was cast in the role ...
, Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...
and James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
,[ for which Forster co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Nichols.][ The book was also adapted as a short-lived ]Broadway musical
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
, '' Georgy'', in 1970.
Forster wrote prolifically in the 1960s and 1970s while bringing up three children, but later criticised many of her own early novels as "skittery",[ feeling she had not found a voice until her 1974 novel ''The Seduction of Mrs Pendlebury''.][ Those early novels are mainly light and humorous, driven by a strong plot.][ An exception was ''The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff'' (1967), which presents the difference in values between generations in a Glaswegian family.][
The theme of family relations became prominent in her later works. ''Mother, Can You Hear Me?'' (1979) and ''Private Papers'' (1986) are darker in tone. She tackled subjects such as single mothers and young offenders.] '' Have the Men Had Enough?'' (1989) scours care of the elderly and the problem of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
, inspired by her mother-in-law's decline and death from the disease.[ In 1991, she and her husband, ]Hunter Davies
Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles.
Early life
Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four ...
, contributed to a BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
''First Sight'' episode "When Love Isn't Enough", telling Marion Davies's story; Forster sharply criticised government policies on care for the elderly.
The publisher Carmen Callil
Dame Carmen Thérèse Callil, (15 July 1938 – 17 October 2022) was an Australian publisher, writer and critic who spent most of her career in the United Kingdom. She founded Virago Press in 1973 and received the Benson Medal from the Royal ...
sees as Forster's best work ''Lady's Maid'' (1990), a historical novel about Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
viewed through the eyes of her maid.[ '']Diary of an Ordinary Woman
''Diary of an Ordinary Woman'' is a novel by Margaret Forster, framed as an "edited" diary of a fictional woman who lives through most of the major events of the 20th century, covering the years 1914 to 1995. So realistic that many readers belie ...
'' (2003), narrated as the diary of a fictional woman who lives through the major events of the 20th century, is so realistic that many readers believed it was an authentic diary.[ Other later novels include ''The Memory Box'' (1999)][ and ''Is There Anything You Want?'' (2005).][ Her final novel, '']How to Measure a Cow
''How to Measure a Cow'' is the last novel published by British author Margaret Forster who died in 2016.
Plot introduction
Tara Fraser spent 11 years in prison then moved to Workington to escape from her violent past in London and changes her n ...
'', was published in March 2016.[
Forster published over 25 novels.][ A lifelong feminist and socialist, most of her works address these themes.][ Callil ascribes to Forster a world view "shaped by her sense of her working-class origins: most of her stories were about women's lives."][ Author ]Valerie Grove
Valerie Grove (née Smith, born 11 May 1946) is a British journalist and author, who for many years worked as a feature writer, interviewer and columnist for ''The Times'' newspaper.
Grove was born in South Shields. Her father, William Douglas "D ...
places her novels as being about "women's lives and the deceit within families".[
]
Biographies, memoirs and other non-fiction
Forster's non-fiction included 14 biographies, historical works and memoirs.[ Her best-known biographies are those of the novelist ]Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...
(1993) and the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime.
Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
(1988).[ The former was a groundbreaking exploration of the author's sexuality and her association with ]Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York.
Early life
Lawrence was born Gertr ...
,[ filmed by the BBC as '']Daphne
Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in whi ...
'' in 2007.[ In her biography of Barrett Browning, Forster draws on recently found letters and papers that shed light on the poet's life before she met and eloped with ]Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...
, replacing the myth of an invalid poet guarded by an ogre-like father with a more nuanced picture of an active, difficult woman, complicit in her virtual imprisonment.
Forster also wrote fictionalised biographies of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
(1978) and the artist Gwen John
Gwendolen Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. Her paintings, mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters, are rendered in a range of closely related tones. Although sh ...
(2006). ''Significant Sisters'' (1984) chronicled the growing feminist movement through the lives of eight pioneering British and American women: Caroline Norton
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an active English social reformer and author.Perkin, pp. 26–28. She left her husband in 1836, who sued her close friend Lord Melbourne, then the Whig ...
, Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was a British physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the United Ki ...
, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
, Emily Davies
Sarah Emily Davies (22 April 1830 – 13 July 1921) was an English feminist and suffragist, and a pioneering campaigner for women's rights to university access. She is remembered above all as a co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton Colleg ...
, Josephine Butler
Josephine Elizabeth Butler (' Grey; 13 April 1828 – 30 December 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. She campaigned for women's suffrage, the right of women to better education, the end of coverture ...
, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
, Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger (born Margaret Louise Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966), also known as Margaret Sanger Slee, was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. Sanger popularized the term "birth control ...
and Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
.[ ''Good Wives'' (2001) surveyed contemporary and historical women married to famous men, including ]Mary Livingstone
Mary Livingstone (born Sadya Marcowitz, later known as Sadie Marks; June 25, 1905–June 30, 1983) was an American radio comedienne and actress. She was the wife and radio partner of comedian Jack Benny.
Enlisted casually to perform on her h ...
, Fanny Stevenson
Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd ...
, Jennie Lee and herself. Her other historical writings include ''Rich Desserts and Captain's Thin'' (1997), an account of the Carr's
Carr's is a British biscuit and cracker manufacturer, currently owned by Pladis Global through its subsidiary United Biscuits. The company was founded in 1831 by Jonathan Dodgson Carr and is marketed in the United States by Kellogg's.
Histor ...
biscuit factory in Carlisle.[
Forster's two memoirs based on her family background, ''Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir'' (1995) and ''Precious Lives'' (1998) join an autobiographical ''My Life in Houses'' (2014).][ ''Hidden Lives'', drawing on the life of her grandmother, a servant with a secret illegitimate daughter, was praised by the historian and critic ]Claire Tomalin
Claire Tomalin (née Delavenay; born 20 June 1933) is an English journalist and biographer, known for her biographies of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Early life
Tomalin was born Claire Del ...
as "a slice of history to be recalled whenever people lament the lovely world we have lost."[ Frances Osborne cites it as her own inspiration for becoming a biographer: "It opened my eyes to how riveting the history of real girl-next-door women could be." The sequel, ''Precious Lives'', tackled Forster's father, whom she reportedly disliked.][
]
Broadcasting, journalism and other roles
Forster joined the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Literary Panel (1978–1981).
judge in 1980. She was the main non-fiction reviewer for the ''
'' (1977–1980).