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 group 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 Unit ...

. 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 Gerald du Maurier, Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her gra ...

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 and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

, and her memoirs ''Hidden Lives'' and ''Precious Lives''.

Early life and education

Forster was born in the Raffles council estate in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, 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 study history at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

, graduating in 1960. Her first job was two years (1961–1963) of teaching English at Barnsbury Girls' School in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, 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 denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...

. It was adapted as a successful 1966 film starring

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was a British and American actress. During a career that spanned five decades, she won two Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, two Em ...

as Georgy, with

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging London, Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn ...

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the Cinema of the United Kingdom#The 1960s, 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from ''Whistle Down the Wind (film), Whistle Down ...

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 nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

, for which Forster co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Nichols. The book was also adapted as a short-lived Broadway musical, '' 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 and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, 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 ...

, contributed to a

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

''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'', 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 worked for many years as a feature writer, interviewer and columnist for ''The Times'' newspaper. Grove was born in South Shields. Her father, William Douglas ...

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 in 1 ...

, filmed by the BBC as ''

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

'' 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 literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

, 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 an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

(1978) and the artist

Gwen John Gwendolen ''Gwen'' Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh people, 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 relat ...

(2006). ''Significant Sisters'' (1984) chronicled the growing feminist movement through the lives of eight pioneering British and American women: Caroline Norton,

Elizabeth Blackwell Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was an English-American physician, notable as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the Un ...

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

, Emily Davies,

Josephine Butler Josephine Elizabeth Butler (; 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 in B ...

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; 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 ...

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

and

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

. ''Good Wives'' (2001) surveyed contemporary and historical women married to famous men, including Mary Livingstone,

Fanny Stevenson Frances 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 Osbourne, ...

, 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 Delaven ...

as "a slice of history to be recalled whenever people lament the lovely world we have lost." Frances Osborne 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Advisory Committee on the Social Effects of Television (1975–1977) and the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

Literary Panel (1978–1981). She served as a

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

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

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' (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. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, and to newspapers and magazines. She was interviewed by

Sue Lawley Susan Lawley (born 14 July 1946) is an English retired television and radio broadcaster. Her main broadcasting background involved television news and current affairs. From 1988 to 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 audio recordin ...

'' 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 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 1975. She gained several awards for non-fiction. '' Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Biography'' won the Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature (1988), ''Daphne du Maurier'' 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. From 190 ...

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 (1999).

Personal life

Forster met the writer, journalist and broadcaster

when they were both living in Carlisle as teenagers. They married in 1960, immediately after she had completed her finals. The marriage lasted until Forster's death. They moved to London, where Davies had a job in journalism, at first living in rented accommodation in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

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

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the London 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, London, Parliament Hill ...

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

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

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

Caldbeck Caldbeck is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland, it is situated within the Lake District National Park. Part of the parish lies within the Skiddaw Group SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). T ...

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 and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

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

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...

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) and '' The Singing Detective'' ...

. 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. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

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 *''Dames' Delight'' (Jonathan Cape, 1964) *''The Bogeyman'' (Secker & Warburg, 1965) *''Georgy Girl'' (Secker & Warburg, 1965) *''The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff'' (Secker & Warburg, 1967) *''The Park'' (Secker & Warburg, 1968) *''Miss Owen-Owen is at Home'' (Secker & Warburg, 1969) *''Fenella Phizackerley'' (Secker & Warburg, 1970) *''Mr Bone's Retreat'' (Secker & Warburg, 1971) *''The Seduction of Mrs Pendlebury'' (Secker & Warburg, 1974) *''Mother Can You Hear Me?'' (Secker & Warburg, 1979) *''The Bride of Lowther Fell: a Romance'' (Secker & Warburg, 1980) *''Marital Rites'' (Secker & Warburg, 1981) *''Private Papers'' (Chatto & Windus, 1986) *'' Have the Men Had Enough?'' (Chatto & Windus, 1989) *''Lady's Maid'' (Chatto & Windus, 1990) *''The Battle for Christabel'' (Chatto & Windus, 1991) *''Mother's Boys'' (Chatto & Windus, 1994) *'' Shadow Baby'' (Chatto & Windus, 1996) *''The Memory Box'' (Chatto & Windus, 1999) *'' Diary of an Ordinary Woman 1914–1995'' (Chatto & Windus, 2003) *''Is There Anything You Want?'' (Chatto & Windus, 2005) *''Keeping the World Away'' (Chatto & Windus, 2006) *''Over'' (Chatto & Windus, 2007) *''Isa and May'' (Chatto & Windus, 2010) *'' The Unknown Bridesmaid'' (Chatto & Windus, 2013) *'' How to Measure a Cow'' (Chatto & Windus, 2016) ;Biography and history *''The Rash Adventurer: The Rise and Fall of Charles Edward Stuart'' (Secker & Warburg, 1973) *''Memoirs of a Victorian Gentleman: William Makepeace Thackeray'' (Secker & Warburg, 1978) *''Significant Sisters: The Grassroots of Active Feminism 1839–1939'' (Secker & Warburg, 1984) *'' Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Biography'' (Chatto & Windus, 1988) *''Daphne du Maurier'' (Chatto & Windus, 1993) *''Rich Desserts and Captain's Thin: A Family and Their Times 1831–1931'' (Chatto & Windus, 1997) *''Good Wives?: Mary, Fanny, Jennie & Me 1845–2001'' (Chatto & Windus, 2001) *''Keeping the World Away'' (Chatto & Windus, 2006) ;Family memoirs and autobiography *''Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir'' (Viking, 1995) *''Precious Lives'' (Chatto & Windus, 1998) *''My Life in Houses'' (Chatto & Windus, 2014) *''Diary of an Ordinary Schoolgirl'' (Chatto & Windus, 2017) ;Literary editions *''Drawn from Life: The Journalism of William Makepeace Thackeray'' (editor) (Folio Society, 1984) *Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ''Selected Poems'' (editor) (Chatto & Windus, 1988) *Virginia Woolf, ''Flush: A Biography'' (1933) New intro. by Margaret Forster (Hogarth Press, 1991)

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 British women literary critics English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Writers from Carlisle, Cumbria English women non-fiction writers English women biographers