''The Virgin in the Garden'' is a 1978 realist novel by English novelist A. S. Byatt. Set during the same year as the

coronation of Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

, the novel revolves around a play about

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. The novel features a strong use of

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

, which ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called "overloaded", that points towards Elizabeth I. The novel is the first of a quartet featuring Frederica Potter, followed by '' Still Life'' (1985), '' Babel Tower'' (1996), and ''

A Whistling Woman ''A Whistling Woman'' is a 2002 novel by A. S. Byatt. The novel was published by Chatto & Windus in 2002. The novel is the final in a sequence of four books, preceded by '' The Virgin in the Garden'' (1978), '' Still Life'' (1985), and '' Bab ...

'' (2002). The book features numerous flower metaphors and Byatt described the character of Marcus as "a self-portrait: somebody baffled by things being far too much and not fittable into any of the languages you were offered".

Reception

''The New York Times'' describes the writing of "Byatt is essentially a fine, careful and very traditional storyteller." In a 1998 interview with

Philip Hensher Philip Michael Hensher FRSL (born 20 February 1965) is an English novelist, critic and journalist. Biography Son of Raymond J. and Miriam Hensher, his father a bank manager and composer and his mother a university librarian, Hensher was born in ...

, published 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, Phil ...

'' in 2001, Byatt commented on a piece which John Sutherland had written in ''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

'' recently claiming that ''The Virgin in the Garden'' was "completely unreadable, and that he and a colleague of his and mine at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

had a bet about whether any of them could finish it and none of them could! He actually published that. So I'm always deeply surprised when anyone says anybody is reading it".

Reception

References

Further reading