R.I.P. Margaret Forster

    I am sorry to hear the news of the death of Margaret Forster today. As I said in this post about her last book My Life in Houses (which I strongly recommend), I have long admired her work, and she was a good, solid writer.

    Her husband Hunter Davies is reported as saying that she was never interested in publicity or money: "She had an agreement with her publisher not to do literary lunches or do any broadcasting, and she actually didn't care whether the books were published or not. Her fun was in writing them and if the publisher didn't want to publish it, so what? She'd move on to the next one."

    A rare and refreshing attitude.

Comments

[Lyn]

Sad news. I love her books, especially her memoirs. Her biographies of Elizabeth Barrett Browning & Daphne Du Maurier are also excellent.

[Fran H-B]

On hearing a lovely tribute to her from Melvyn Bragg on Front Row last night I went to the Desert Island Disc's archive. The programme she made some years ago gives a real feeling of what a common sense, down to earth and no nonsense person she was.

[Lizzie]

Sorry to hear this sad news. She was one of my favourite authors. Looking forward to reading her last book, How to measure a Cow, out in March.

[LizF]

Sad news indeed. I very much enjoyed My Life in Houses and I know that I have several of her books tucked away, both fiction and non-fiction because I have enjoyed both equally.
Now seems a good time to look them out.

[Naomi]

Loved her books; A Life in Houses was for me a sobering goodbye. Thank you, Fran H-B, for noting the Melvyn Bragg tribute which is accessible via computer in North America.

[Carol S]

Agree, an excellent writer who also lived admirably.
I've always particularly valued 'Mother Can You Hear Me?'

[Sarah]

I was sad to hear about her death. She and Hunter Davies made a rare couple I think. She was an excellent biographer and I too enjoyed her memoir, My Life in Houses.

[JennyM]

I too am a fan of Margaret Forster's books and was sorry to hear of her death (thank you for bringing the news to our attention). My own favourite of her books is 'Hidden Lives'.

[Margaret Powling]

Yes, I was saddened to learn of her death, too. I was only talking to a friend about her books last week when I called to visit her and she was reading the Elizabeth Barratt Browning biog by Margaret Forster. I have enjoyed many of her books, including the rather fey The Bride of Lowther Fell.