''The Seven Sisters'' is a 1992 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 reflects on a
mid-life crisis
A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...
of an estranged Candida, when she moves to a rundown London apartment. The novel largely follows Candida's evasive and sometimes deceptive representation of events, including an
epistolary section which is her "computer diary".
Reception
Reviews of the novel are largely mixed. ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' called the novel a "clever new novel", writing that "Candida's evasive account accurately charts the psychological territory of one who is suddenly cast adrift."
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reviewer Natasha Walker writes that in this narrative "Drabble has managed to capture this sensation of insignificant life, but without forging it into significant fiction."
In comparison, reviewer Brooke Allen found the novel an accurate representation of middle age, concluding "Engaging the emotions and the intellect simultaneously and possessed of a rare technical ease,
''The Seven Sisters'' is an unusually satisfying novel."
Many of the reviews compare the narrator to Drabble's earlier characters. ''The Guardian'' reviewer Natasha Walter compared Candida to the protagonist to Sarah of ''
A Summer Bird-Cage
''A Summer Bird-Cage'' is the 1963 debut novel by Margaret Drabble published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. The title of the novel is taken from a quotation from the play ''The White Devil'' by John Webster:
‘"Tis just like a summer bird-cage in a ...
'', writing that they are of the similar intention, but very different effects—which creates a "artificial construct" of Candida.
''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' reviewer Anna Shapiro, had mixed feelings about the novel, writing that the protagonist Candida was not as well written as "the realised heroines of Drabble's magnificent books from the 1960s or 1970s."
Further reading
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Sisters
1992 British novels
Novels by Margaret Drabble
Viking Press books