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 music, folk-influenced pop music, 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 Un ...

. Other successes were a 2003 novel, '' Diary of an Ordinary Woman'', 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 Geo ...

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 English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

, 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, I ...

, 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 ...

, 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, mu ...

. 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. B ...

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 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 remembering recent events. As ...

, 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 y ...

, 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 a ...

''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 sees as Forster's best work ''Lady's Maid'' (1990), a historical novel about

viewed through the eyes of her maid. '' Diary of an Ordinary Woman'' (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

(1993) and the poet

(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'' 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 sett ...

, 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 s ...

(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 social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

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 Coll ...

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 contro ...

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. History ...

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 Dela ...

as "a slice of history to be recalled whenever people lament the lovely world we have lost."

Frances Osborne Frances Victoria Osborne (''née'' Howell; born 18 February 1969) is an English author. She has written two biographies and one novel. She is the estranged wife of George Osborne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Osborne's first biograp ...

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 Advisory Committee on the Social Effects of Television (1975–1977) and the Arts Council Literary Panel (1978–1981). She served as a

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

judge in 1980. She was the main non-fiction reviewer for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' (1977–1980). She contributed often to literature programmes on television and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

, and to newspapers and magazines. She was interviewed by

Sue Lawley Susan Lawley (born 14 July 1946) is a retired English television and radio broadcaster. Her main broadcasting background involved television news and current affairs. From 1988–2006, Lawley was the presenter of '' Desert Island Discs'' on BBC ...

for Radio 4's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'' in 1994.

Awards

Forster was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, ele ...

in 1975. She gained several awards for non-fiction. '' Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Biography'' won the

Heinemann Award The W. H. Heinemann Award is an award established by William Heinemann who bequeathed funds to the Royal Society of Literature to establish a literary prize, given from 1945 to 2003.Directory of Grants in the Humanities The Heinemann Award is give ...

of the Royal Society of Literature (1988), ''Daphne du Maurier: The Secret Life of the Renowned Storyteller'' the Writers' Guild Award for Best Non-Fiction (1993) and the

Fawcett Society The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Origina ...

Book Prize (1994). ''Rich Desserts and Captain's Thin: A Family and Their Times 1831–1931'' won the Lex Prize of The Global Business Book Award (1998). ''Precious Lives'' won the

J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography PEN Ackerley Prize (or, J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography) is awarded annually by English PEN for a literary autobiography of excellence, written by an author of British nationality and published during the preceding year. The winner receiv ...

(1999).

Personal life

Forster met the writer, journalist and broadcaster

in their native Carlisle as a teenager. They married in 1960, right after she had completed her finals. The marriage lasted until Forster's death. They moved to London, where Davies had a job, at first living in rented accommodation in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, then buying and renovating a Victorian house in Boscastle Road,

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the Borough of Camden, north of Charing Cross. The area adjoins Highgate and Highgate Cemetery (to the north) and Kentish Town (to the south). Parliament Hill is to the west. The nearest Un ...

, north London, which remained their main home. After the success of ''Georgy Girl'' in the mid-1960s, Forster bought a house for her mother. The couple had three children, a son and two daughters;

Caitlin Davies Caitlin Davies (born 6 March 1964) is an English author, journalist and teacher. Her parents are Hunter Davies and Margaret Forster, both well-known writers.

is an author and journalist. The family lived for some time in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

in Portugal, before returning to London. They also had homes in

Caldbeck Caldbeck is a village in Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland, it is situated within the Lake District National Park. The village had 714 inhabitants according to the census of 2001. Caldbeck is closely associated with neighbouring ...

and

Loweswater Loweswater is one of the smaller lakes in the English Lake District. The village of Loweswater is situated to the east of the lake. Geography The lake is not far from Cockermouth and is also easily reached from elsewhere in West Cumbria. T ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. She led a somewhat reclusive life, often refusing to attend book signings and other publicity events. Her friends included broadcaster

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of '' The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documen ...

and playwright

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...

. Forster contracted breast cancer in the 1970s and had two mastectomies. A further cancer diagnosis ensued in 2007. By 2014, the cancer had metastasized, and she died in February 2016, aged 77.

Legacy

The

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

acquired the Margaret Forster Archive in March 2018, which consists of material relating to her works, professional and private correspondence, and personal papers. It includes manuscripts and typescript drafts of most of her published work, and some personal diaries.Margaret Forster Archive
the British Library archives and manuscripts catalogue. Retrieved 11 May 2020.

Selected works

;Novels *1964 ''Dames' Delight'' (Jonathan Cape) *1965 ''The Bogeyman'' (Secker & Warburg) *1965 ''Georgy Girl'' (Secker & Warburg) *1967 ''The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff'' (Secker & Warburg) *1968 ''The Park'' (Secker & Warburg) *1969 ''Miss Owen-Owen is at Home'' (Secker & Warburg) *1970 ''Fenella Phizackerley'' (Secker & Warburg) *1971 ''Mr Bone's Retreat'' (Secker & Warburg) *1974 ''The Seduction of Mrs Pendlebury'' (Secker & Warburg) *1979 ''Mother Can You Hear Me?'' (Secker & Warburg) *1980 ''The Bride of Lowther Fell: a Romance'' (Secker & Warburg) *1981 ''Marital Rites'' (Secker & Warburg) *1986 ''Private Papers'' (Chatto & Windus) *1989 '' Have the Men Had Enough?'' (Chatto & Windus) *1990 ''Lady's Maid'' (Chatto & Windus) *1991 ''The Battle for Christabel'' (Chatto & Windus) *1994 ''Mother's Boys'' (Chatto & Windus) *1996 '' Shadow Baby'' (Chatto & Windus) *1999 ''The Memory Box'' (Chatto & Windus) *2003 '' Diary of an Ordinary Woman 1914–1995'' (Chatto & Windus) *2005 ''Is There Anything You Want?'' (Chatto & Windus) *2006 ''Keeping the World Away'' (Chatto & Windus) *2007 ''Over'' (Chatto & Windus) *2010 ''Isa and May'' (Chatto & Windus) *2013 '' The Unknown Bridesmaid'' (Chatto & Windus) *2016 ''

'' (Chatto & Windus) ;Biography and history *1973 ''The Rash Adventurer: The Rise and Fall of Charles Edward Stuart'' (Secker & Warburg) *1978 ''Memoirs of a Victorian Gentleman: William Makepeace Thackeray'' (Secker & Warburg) *1984 ''Significant Sisters: The Grassroots of Active Feminism 1839–1939'' (Secker & Warburg) *1988 '' Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Biography'' (Chatto & Windus) *1993 ''Daphne du Maurier: The Secret Life of the Renowned Storyteller'' (Chatto & Windus) *1997 ''Rich Desserts and Captain's Thin: A Family and Their Times 1831–1931'' (Chatto & Windus) *2001 ''Good Wives?: Mary, Fanny, Jennie & Me 1845–2001'' (Chatto & Windus) *2006 ''Keeping the World Away'' (Chatto & Windus) ;Family memoirs and autobiography *1995 ''Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir'' (Viking) *1998 ''Precious Lives'' (Chatto & Windus) *2014 ''My Life in Houses'' (Chatto & Windus) *2017 ''Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl'' (Chatto & Windus) ;Literary editions *1984 ''Drawn from Life: The Journalism of William Makepeace Thackeray'' (Folio Society) *1988 Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ''Selected Poems'' (Chatto & Windus) *1991 Virginia Woolf, ''Flush: A Biography'' (1933) New intro. by Margaret Forster (Hogarth Press)

References

External links

*
Lindsay, Cora, 'Critical perspective (and biog & bibliog. on Margaret Forster)'
Contemporary Writers (British Council)

(publisher's website) *Margaret Forste
discusses her latest book
''Isa and May'' wit
The Interview Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forster, Margaret 1938 births 2016 deaths Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford English biographers English women journalists English literary critics Women literary critics English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People from Carlisle, Cumbria English women non-fiction writers Women biographers