''The Realms of Gold'' is a 1975 novel by British novelist
Margaret Drabble
Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer.
Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and ''Jer ...
. The novel explores the mid-life experiences of anthropologist Frances Wingate and her affair with Karel Schmidt.
Development
Drabble describes the initial inspiration for the novel in an interview in ''
The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...
:''
Style
The novel is primarily a reflection on Wingate's life, but critic Broyard, describes the novels best features are "Brilliant little essays" about life and life issues.
Critical reception
Reception of the novel was mixed. ''New York Times'' reviewer Anatole Broyard described the novel as "drenched with intelligence, that is not enough to make it work."
Broyard compared Drabble's poor work to the poor subsequent novels by
Edna O'Brien
Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" D ...
and
Gail Godwin
Gail Godwin (born June 18, 1937) is an American novelist and short story writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten libretti. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have ...
.
Kirkus review was much more positive about the novel, calling it "a conspicuous pleasure to read--a cheerful reconciliation of the exactions of the past and the possibilities that lie just ahead."
Further reading
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Realms of Gold
1975 British novels
Novels by Margaret Drabble
Novels set in fictional countries
Weidenfeld & Nicolson books