THE PURE GOLD BABY

THE DARK FLOOD RISES

Fran may be old but she's not going without a fight. So she dyes her hair, enjoys a glass of red wine, drives restlessly around the country and lives in an insalubrious tower block that her loved ones disapprove of. And as each of them seeks happiness in their own way, will they be waving or drowning when the end comes?

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SMILING WOMAN

In this collection of stories spanning nearly four decades, love affairs, conflicts and chance encounters are played out in locations that range from Somerset and Dorset to Elba and Turkmenistan. The protagonists are men, women, husbands and lovers, TV presenters and housewives all subtly captured with wit and acuity.

THE GATES OF IVORY

One day Liz Headleand receives a mysterious parcel, with Cambodian stamps, that contains a finger bone and scraps of writing by her friend, the novelist Stephen Cox. Enlisting the help of Hattie Osborne, another of his friends, Liz attempts to decipher his trail.

A NATURAL CURIOSITY

Continuing the story of three Cambridge friends and how they come to terms with l980s Britain. Sequel to: 'The Radiant Way' (2342)

THE PEPPERED MOTH

In 1912 gifted Bessie Bawtry uses her place at Cambridge as a way to escape Breaseborough, a Yorkshire mining town. Her granddaughter visits the town nearly a century later and questions whether she has travelled further in life than her Yorkshire kin!

THE RED QUEEN

In the eighteenth century a young girl was plucked from obscurity to marry the Crown Prince of Korea. Two hundred years later the Red Queen's ghost decides that she wants her story kept alive and selects Dr. Babs Halliwell as the perfect envoy.

THE SEVEN SISTERS

Claudia Wilton arrives in London, divorced and with little money, but filled with a sense of excitement and a belief that she is a lucky person. She is right, a windfall brings her unexpected riches and her horizons suddenly broaden!

A SUMMER BIRD-CAGE

Louise and Sarah have never been the closest of sisters. Louise, beautiful and sophisticated, has always kept a distance between them. But as Louise's marriage to novelist Stephen Halifax turns sour Sara becomes her confidante and friend and discovers that, beneath the cool exterior, her sister is not quite the person she thought she was.

A WRITER'S BRITAIN

Margaret Drabble explores the role of locality and landscape in the works of some of Britain’s most well-known writers.