THE MILLSTONE

by Margaret Drabble ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 1966

At first Rosamund seems to be similar to one of the new women Miss Drabble has already so coolly exposed in The Garrick Year and The Summer Bird-Cage. She is self-confident and self-contained-- but articulate. Devastatingly articulate-- not a word is misplaced. But then the paradox becomes clear which is not only the fascination of her book but its central intention. While Rosamund is all mind (on her way to a University post), she hasn't too much sense; while she's very attractive to men, she's inexperienced and actually averse to sex. Now when she goes to bed, almost by default, with a gentle, diffident homosexual, she becomes Pregnant and is asked to pay ""the Victorian penalty."" For the first time she is ""trapped in a human limit""; and her experiences to follow, from queueing up in a dismal National Health maternity clinic, to having the baby, to learning that Octavia--an enchanting infant--has a congenital defect and may not survive surgery and certainly won't live without it, all of teach Rosamund about a great many other ""human limits."" Some of it however is exceedingly amusing-- certainly the part which deals with Lydia, a casual friend, who moves in on her to exploit her as raw material for a novel which Octavia chews up; a few of their equally enlightened, vagrant friends, etc. Within its limits (feminine, young, modern) it is much more than just another L-Shaped Room off The Apartment. It's a funny, touching, and very classy thinking girl's entertainment.

Pub Date: May 16, 1966

ISBN: 0156006197

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION